Blow for Scottish nationalists as U.K. court says independence vote must get Britain’s approval

Scottish nationalists’ hopes of holding a vote on independence next year suffered a blow on Wednesday when the United Kingdom’s top court ruled the Scottish government cannot hold a second referendum without the approval of the British Parliament.

After the U.K. Supreme Court ruled Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon could not hold a vote without the approval of the United Kingdom parliament, she repeated her vow to campaign in the next U.K.-wide election, expected to be held in 2024, solely on a platform of whether Scotland should be independent, making it a “de facto” referendum.

“While I am obviously very disappointed by it, I do respect and accept the judgment of the court,” Sturgeon told reporters.

“We must and we will find another democratic, lawful and constitutional means by which the Scottish people can express their will. In my view, that can only be an election.”

In 2014, Scots rejected ending the more than 300-year-old union with England by 55 per cent to 45 per cent, but independence campaigners have argued the vote two years later for Britain to leave the European Union, which the majority of Scottish voters opposed, has materially changed the circumstances.

However, the British government in London has said it would not grant permission for another plebiscite, saying it should be a once-in-a-generation event. Polls suggest voters remain evenly split over whether or not they support independence and a vote would be too close to call.

Unanimous decision

The Scottish government’s most senior law officer had asked the U.K. Supreme Court whether the Scottish government could pass legislation paving the way for an advisory second referendum without the approval of the U.K. Parliament.

The unanimous verdict of five judges on the court was that it could not.

“The Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence,” said Robert Reed, the president of the U.K. Supreme Court.

Under the 1998 Scotland Act, which created the Scottish Parliament and devolved some powers from Westminster, all matters relating to the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England are reserved to the U.K. Parliament. The court concluded any referendum, even advisory, would be a reserved matter.

Sturgeon said it was now an issue of “basic democratic rights.”

“Let’s be absolutely blunt: a so-called partnership in which one partner is denied the right to choose a different future, not even to ask itself the question, cannot be described in any way as voluntary, or even a partnership at all,” Sturgeon said.

Her left-wing SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for more than a decade, winning the overwhelming majority of Scottish seats in the 2019 U.K. election, has argued that the refusal of the British government to allow another vote means the views of Scots are being ignored.

London argues it be wrong to hold another divisive independence vote during a cost of living and energy crisis, while war rages in Ukraine and the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Rallies planned

Independence campaigners say it should be for Scotland to decide how to respond to these major issues, given that the current British government is unpopular in Scotland, where support for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is currently running at about 15 per cent, according to latest polls.

More than a dozen pro-independence rallies are planned across Scotland and parts of Europe on Wednesday, with the largest expected outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, where supporters will claim that democracy is being denied.

Britain’s minister for Scotland, Alister Jack, said the British government respected the court’s ruling and would work constructively with the devolved Scottish administration on dealing with the major challenges the nation faced, such as the economy and health service.

Should there be a second referendum, polls suggest voters remain evenly split and a vote would be too close to call. Issues such as what currency an independent Scotland would use and whether it could rejoin the EU remain key.

Critics say Sturgeon and the SNP have failed to answer either question adequately.

“Achieving independence is not just desirable, it is essential if Scotland is to escape the disaster of Brexit, the damage of policies imposed by governments we do not vote for and the low-growth, high-inequality economic model that is holding us back,” Sturgeon said.

“I think it’s safe to predict that this will not be my last words on the matter.”