Does the Scottish Parliament have the legislative competence to pass a Referendum Bill? And should judges answer this question now? The Supreme Court returned to its scrutiny of these two questions on Wednesday morning with Sir James Eadie’s submissions on behalf of the UK Government.
You may recognise Eadie. He rejoices under the professional title of “Treasury Devil,” and is a senior adviser to the UK Government on the knottiest legal problems it encounters. He has represented the British government in some of the most high-profile cases which have reached the Supreme Court in recent years, including the 2019 challenge to Boris Johnson’s unlawful attempt to prorogue the Westminster Parliament to get his Brexit proposals over the line. You win some, you lose some I guess.
If you judged Eadie’s arguments purely on length, then you might conclude his clients in Whitehall are particularly keen for the Supreme Court to refuse to decide whether or not Holyrood can call an independence referendum.
