THE Scotland Office has admitted that it holds documents discussing Scottish independence and a Section 30 order – but has refused to release them.
The Sunday National lodged a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with Douglas Alexander’s department following the Holyrood election result, where a record number of pro-independence MSPs were elected to the Scottish Parliament.
In the first vote of the new parliamentary session, on Tuesday, May 26, MSPs backed John Swinney’s request for a Section 30 order from Westminster.
Less than 15 minutes after the vote passed, the UK Government rejected the call for a second independence referendum.
The Sunday National lodged the FOI ahead of the vote taking place, but after the election results, to establish whether the Scotland Office had done any preparatory work to engage on the substance of the debate around independence.
We asked for any internal documents – such as briefs, emails, meeting notes and minutes – which refer to Scottish independence, a Section 30 order, a referendum, the SNP and the Scottish Greens.
Our request also included asking for any material that Scotland Office ministers or senior officials may have sent to Number 10, the Cabinet Office or the Treasury.
While the Scotland Office admitted that there were files available, it did not explain what they were and refused to release them, citing an exemption which protects the “formulation of policy and communications”.
“I am writing to advise that we hold some of the information you requested,” the FOI officer in the Scotland Office said in the official response.
Citing the exemption to withhold the information, they added that disclosing what discussions had taken place around independence would “weaken” the ability of ministers to “discuss controversial and sensitive topics free from premature public scrutiny”.
It adds that the exemption – Section 35 of the Freedom of Information Act – is qualified and officials have to consider “whether the balance of the public interest favours our release of this material”.
It then states that ministers must be able to discuss policy “freely and frankly” to establish the available options and “understand their possible implications”.
“The candour of all involved would be affected by their assessment of whether the content of the discussions will be disclosed prematurely,” the response adds.
“If discussions were routinely made public, there is a risk that ministers may feel inhibited from being frank and candid with one another.
“As a result, the quality of debate underlying collective decision-making would decline, leading to worse informed and poorer decision making.
“Taking into account all the circumstances of this case, we have concluded that the balance of the public interest favours withholding this information.”
In response to our FOI, Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay MSP said: “Scotland voted for an overwhelming pro-independence majority only last month.
“For the Scotland Office to be sitting on its hands while refusing to give any update on the work it is doing to ensure Scotland’s democratic will is acknowledged and acted upon tells us everything we need to know about its view on Scotland’s right to choose.
“While Keir Starmer’s position as Prime Minister becomes more untenable by the day, now is not the time for the Scotland Office to go into hiding.
“The Scottish Greens will continue to push for Scotland to have a say on its future, whether that be the UK Government or the Scottish Government, because Scotland deserves to get what it voted for.”
SNP MSP Alex Kerr told the Sunday National that voters in Scotland “made their voices loud and clear” by electing 73 pro-independence MSPs to Holyrood.
“In one of the first acts of the new Parliament, MSPs voted for the powers to hold a referendum on Scottish independence to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament,” he added.
“The Westminster Government wants to stand in our way and keep plans for our country’s constitutional future hidden behind closed doors in Whitehall.
“But whoever picks up the keys to Number 10 next can’t carry on ignoring the will of the Scottish people to decide on their own future.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The UK Government does not support independence or another referendum.
"People need and want their governments focused on the issues that really matter to them – economic growth, the cost of living and public services.
"Our priority must be delivery, not division.”
Earlier this month, Alexander was accused of going into "hiding" from calls for his resignation after it emerged that disgraced Labour peer Peter Mandelson introduced him to a lobbying firm he set up with links to Russia and China.
Alexander's first meeting as trade minister after the 2024 General Election was with Global Counsel, the firm co-founded by Mandelson, in the form of an online call. This meeting was only added to public transparency logs earlier this year.
The Scottish Secretary remained quiet on social media during this period, but last week was repeatedly posting ahead of the by-elections held in Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, neither of which Labour came close to winning.
