Scotland takes fight for independence vote to UK’s top court

Scotland will seek the legal backing for a referendum on independence next year, escalating a stand-off with the government in London that risks throwing the UK into constitutional turmoil.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is accelerating the process of getting the necessary legislation for a vote tested in court before it heads to the Scottish Parliament. The referendum bill, which envisages a vote on October 19 next year, was referred to the UK Supreme Court by Scotland’s chief legal officer, Sturgeon told lawmakers in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

The move marks a significant gamble in the protracted quarrel between the pro-independence administration and Boris Johnson’s government in London over whether Scotland has the right to hold another vote on a breakaway after more than three centuries of union.

Sturgeon said she would first request permission from the UK government to hold the vote via a so-called Section 30 order, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson has consistently refused. The next step, she said, is that “the lawfulness must be established by fact and not opinion”.

“If it does transpire that there is no lawful way for this parliament to give the people of Scotland the choice of independence in a referendum – and if the UK government continues to deny a Section 30 order – my party will fight the UK general election on this single question: ‘Should Scotland be an independent country’,” Sturgeon said.

While the potential breakup of the UK has been a political theme for years, the latest episode comes at an awkward time as the country grapples with a cost-of-living crisis, the threat of recession and wrangling with the European Union over Northern Ireland post-Brexit.