THE SNP have challenged the UK Government to change the law restricting Scotland's right to hold a second independence referendum.
Speaking in Parliament shortly after the Supreme Court ruled Holyrood was incapable of holding indyref2 without Westminster’s consent because of the terms of the Scotland Act, Ian Blackford asked whether the law would be amended.
Failing to do so, the SNP’s Westminster leader added, would be “deliberately choosing to deny democracy”.
He asked the Scottish Secretary: “In 2014, the made it clear that – and I quote – ‘nothing in its report prevented Scotland becoming an independent country should the people of Scotland so choose’.
“If that is true, if his government is still committed to that promise, will he urgently amend the Scotland Act to ensure that the Scottish people have the right to choose our own future?
“If he fails to do that, is he deliberately choosing to deny democracy?”
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack did not address that point, instead accusing the SNP of “misleading” the country by suggesting the 2021 Scottish Parliament election delivered a pro-Yes “mandate”.
The SNP plainly do not expect the UK Government to pass changes to the Scotland Act which would provide a clearly set out route to an independence referendum – but view it as proof Westminster is deliberately blocking Scotland a say on its future.
Tommy Sheppard told The National after the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on Wednesday morning that the ruling would bring about a “constitutional crisis in the British state”.
He added: “The best way of resolving it would be for [Westminster] to pass an amendment to the Scotland Act to allow the Scottish Parliament to be able to ask this question.”
Sheppard went on: “That’s not going to happen, so what happens now in Scotland, we have to assert our right to self-determination and that will start tonight at rallies the length and breadth of the country and we’ll make sure that this campaign goes on – it does not stop here.”
In a press conference called after the ruling, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the court’s ruling while disappointing for Yessers, was not a win for the Unionist side either.
She said: “That is because they will understand that this judgment raises profound and deeply uncomfortable questions about the basis and future of the United Kingdom.”
Sturgeon added: “Let’s be blunt: a so-called partnership in which one partner is denied the right to choose a different future - or even to ask itself the question —cannot be described in any way as voluntary or even a partnership at all.
“So this ruling confirms that the notion of the UK as a voluntary partnership of nations is no longer, if it ever was, a reality.
“And that exposes a situation that is quite simply unsustainable.”
