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Sturgeon's push for referendum

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Vincent
Published date29 June 2022
The First Minister said the Scottish Government would be referring the provisions of its referendum Bill to the UK's highest court yesterday afternoon

She said she wanted an "indisputably lawful" referendum to take place.

Ms Sturgeon said that in the event the court ruled that her proposals are outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, the next general election will become a "de facto referendum".

The UK Government has consistently said it is opposed to a Section 30 order which would grant Holyrood the power to hold another referendum.

She said that the lawfulness of the referendum "must be established as a matter of fact, not just opinion".

She said: "Otherwise, as we have seen again in recent days, opposition parties will just keep casting doubt on the legitimacy

Lord Dorothy of the process, so that they can avoid the substantive debate on independence."

The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill proposes a "consultative, not self-executing" referendum, she said, claiming it had the same legal status as the vote in 2014.

To applause from the SNP members in the chamber, Ms Sturgeon said: "I can announce that the Scottish Government is proposing that the independence referendum be held on October 19 2023."

She continued: "We know that legislative competence can only be determined judicially.

"And we know that for as long as there is no judicial determination, opinions will differ and doubt will continue to be cast on the lawful basis for the referendum.

"That benefits only those parties opposed to independence."

Ms Sturgeon said the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, the Scottish Government's chief legal officer, had referred the...

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