The British Supreme Court ruled unsurprisingly on Wednesday that Scotland could not organize a new independence referendum without the London agreement, dampening the hopes of the Scottish independence government which intends to place the question at the heart of the next general elections.
“The Court has unanimously concluded that the bill (for a referendum, editor’s note) is a matter reserved” for central power in London, explained the President of the Supreme Court Robert Reed. In fact, “the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for an independence referendum”.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “disappointed” by the Court’s ruling, saying that “a law which does not allow Scotland to choose its own future without Westminster’s agreement shows that any notion of voluntary partnership with the UK is a myth’.
She had already unveiled the question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?”, and even the date, October 19, 2023, on which she wanted to organize this new consultation.
Already 55% of Scots in 2014 refused to leave the UK. But in the eyes of the SNP separatists in power in Edinburgh, the Brexit that has since taken place, which 62% of voters in the province opposed, is a game-changer. They want Scotland to rejoin the European Union as an independent state.
But the central government in London strongly opposes any further independence referendums and sees the 2014 vote as closing the debate for a generation.
Anticipating a legal tussle with London, Nicola Sturgeon had taken the lead in seizing the Supreme Court for it to position itself on the question which divides the Scots.
“Clear and definitive”
The Court considered that such a referendum – even consultative – would have direct consequences on the union of the United Kingdom, an area “reserved” for the central government in London which must therefore give its agreement before such a vote is held. .
Before the deputies in Parliament, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he respected “the clear and final judgment” of the Supreme Court and called on politicians to “work together”.
For his part, the British Minister for Scotland Alister Jack said that Edinburgh must now “focus (…) on the issues that matter most” for Scots in the midst of the cost of living crisis in the Kingdom -United.
Faced with this failure in court, Ms Sturgeon repeated at a press conference in Edinburgh that she would make the next general election in the United Kingdom, due to be held by January 2025, a “de facto referendum”. on the question of independence.
In the local elections of 2021, she had promised to organize a legally valid referendum once the page of the pandemic was turned.
“We must and we will find other democratic, legal and constitutional means for the people of Scotland to express their will,” she said on Wednesday.
“Fundamental and inalienable right”
“It’s not the end of the story,” reacted outside the Supreme Court David Simpson, 70 years old supporter of independence. “Nothing is impossible.”
Opposed to independence, the leader of Labor in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, called on him to “get rid” of this “rotten” Conservative government. “Let’s show that we can make the UK work for all parts of the country,” he told the BBC.
At the hearing last month, Scotland’s top justice, Dorothy Bain, argued that ‘the right to self-determination is a fundamental and inalienable right’.
But the Supreme Court rejected his arguments on Wednesday, with Robert Reed saying that international law on self-determination only applies to former colonies or populations oppressed by military occupation, or when a group does not have access to certain rights.
“I would have preferred another decision but it gives a clear answer and I think it’s welcome,” Philippa Whitford, an independentist MP, told AFP after the judgment.
“I think while many supporters of the union may be rejoicing, they also need to realize that it raises questions about the nature of the UK. We are constantly told that this is a voluntary union and so they need to reflect on the democratic right that Scots have to choose their own future.”