The UK Supreme Court has ruled against the Scottish government in its indyref2 case, saying that Holyrood will be unable to stage a second independence referendum without consent from Westminster.
Lord Reed, the president of the Supreme Court, unanimously ruled that a referendum bill could only be brought forward in the Scottish parliament with support from the UK government, given that the matter relates to the constitution.
Lord Reed said: “A lawfully held referendum would have important political consequences relating to the union and the United Kingdom parliament.
“Its outcome would possess the authority, in a constitution and political culture founded upon democracy, of a democratic expression of the view of the Scottish electorate.
“It is therefore clear that the proposed (Independence) Bill has more than a loose or consequential connection with the reserved matters of the Union of Scotland and England, and the sovereignty of the United Kingdom parliament.”
Welcoming the “clear and definitive” decision, prime minister Rishi Sunak called on the Scottish government to “work together” with Westminster to address more pressing issues such as growing the economy and responding to the war in Ukraine.
Sunak said during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday: “The people of Scotland want us to be working on fixing the major challenges that we collectively face, whether that's the economy, supporting the NHS or indeed supporting Ukraine.
“Now is the time for politicians to work together and that's what this government will do.”
However, the SNP’s leader in Westminster Ian Blackford maintained that democracy would “not be denied” and that the Supreme Court’s decision to block a referendum undermined the idea that the UK was a “voluntary union”.
Blackford argued this on the grounds that in Scotland’s parliamentary elections last year, the SNP won the most seats thus giving the Scottish government a mandate for a referendum.
In Scotland, first minister Nicola Sturgeon said that she would now use the next UK general election as a “de facto referendum” and fight at the polls solely on the issue of independence. She said that further details of how this will work practically will be set out in due course.
Sturgeon said of the Supreme Court’s decision that it came as a “hard pill for any supporter of independence, and surely indeed for any supporter of democracy, to swallow”, but respected the outcome.
However, she also accused the UK government of "democracy denial", saying that the Scottish government had to find "another democratic, lawful means for Scottish people to express their will".
Recent polls have suggested that Scotland is divided on the issue of independence, with a narrow majority favouring remaining part of the UK. The BBC reports that a series of pro-independence rallies will be held across Scotland on Wednesday evening in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.
