Scottish nationalists hit hard as UK court nullifies bid for independence vote – National

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Scottish government cannot hold a second referendum on independence without the approval of the UK Parliament, a blow to nationalist hopes of holding the vote next year.

In 2014 Scotland refused to end its more than 300-year-old alliance with the UK at 55-45%, but independence campaigners have insisted on a UK vote to leave the EU in two years. , opposed by a majority of Scottish voters. , significantly changed the situation.

Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), announced earlier this year that an independence vote would be held on 19 October 2023, but that would not be legal. It must be internationally recognized, he said.

But the British government in London said it would not grant permission for another referendum, saying it should be a once-in-a-generation event. Remaining evenly divided, voting can be too close.

The Scottish government’s chief legal officer has asked the UK Supreme Court whether the Scottish government can pass legislation opening the way to a second referendum without the approval of the UK Parliament.

The unanimous verdict of the five judges in court was that it could not be done.

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Chief Justice Robert Reed said: “The Scottish Parliament has no power to legislate a referendum on Scottish independence.

Under the Scotland Act 1998, which created the Scottish Parliament and delegated certain powers from Westminster, all matters relating to the union of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England are reserved for the English Parliament. The court concluded that any referendum, even advice, is a matter of reservation.

The court’s decision will disappoint nationalists, but it will be far from the end of the matter.

The SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for more than a decade, won an overwhelming majority of Scottish parliamentary seats in the 2019 UK elections, but the UK government’s refusal to allow a re-vote reflects Scottish voices being ignored. claim to mean that

Sturgeon has already pledged that a Supreme Court defeat will mean her party will fight in the next UK-wide elections due to take place in 2024, raising questions about whether Scotland should be independent. It will only be based on whether it will result in a de facto referendum.

Sturgeon tweeted: “A law that does not allow Scotland to choose its own future without the consent of Westminster exposes the idea that the UK is a voluntary partnership as a myth, and the Indy justify the

“Today’s ruling blocks one route for Scottish voices to be heard on independence, but democracy cannot and will not silence our voices,” she wrote. I’m here.