The Tory Government has called for Nicola Sturgeon’s request for legal clarity on her referendum bill to be rejected.
Ministers believe the best time for the Supreme Court to make a ruling on legislation is after a bill has been passed - not before it is considered by MSPs.
Both Governments are at loggerheads over the First Minister ’s plan for another referendum in October next year.
READ MORE: Lord Advocate lacks 'confidence' over Scottish independence referendum powers
Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson has consistently dismissed her call for a joint agreement on indyref2, leaving her plans in limbo.
Her response was for the Lord Advocate, who advises the Scottish Government, to ask the Supreme Court whether Holyrood has the power to legislate for a referendum.
In a statement today, the UK Government confirmed it will take part in the process, but only to call for the referral to be rejected at the outset.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We have been clear that now is not the time to be discussing another independence referendum, when people across Scotland want both their governments to be working together on the issues that matter to them and their families.”
“However, following the Lord Advocate’s referral of the Scottish Government’s draft Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, the UK Government has today lodged its initial response with the Supreme Court.
“The papers confirm that the Advocate General for Scotland will become a formal party to the case, and ask the Court to consider whether it should accept the Lord Advocate’s referral.”
The move came after the Lord Advocate said she did not have the “necessary degree of confidence” that the referendum bill is within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “People in Scotland have voted for a Parliament with a clear majority in favour of independence and with a mandate for an independence referendum. The Scottish Government fully intends to offer the Scottish people the choice of independence and has set out how it will do so.
“The UK Government’s repeated attempts to block democracy – which now seem to extend to an unwillingness to even make a substantive argument before the Supreme Court – serve only to demonstrate how little confidence it has in its case for the union.
“However, whether the reference is accepted, how long it takes to determine and what judgment is arrived at are all matters for the Court to determine. The reference is now before the Supreme Court, and the Court should be allowed to fulfil its function.”
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