By Press Association 2021
Scotland Independence rally
Judges should rule on whether Scotland can hold a second independence referendum without Westminster’s consent before the Holyrood election so that people do not have to vote “in ignorance”, a court has heard.
Appeal judges are hearing a case brought forward by Martin Keatings on behalf of the Forward As One group, asking the court to declare the Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate for another vote.
After a two-day hearing in January, Lady Carmichael dismissed the case – ruling it was “plainly raised prematurely” and that the question of another referendum was “also hypothetical, and may never come to pass”.
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AN independence referendum called without Westminster consent could be both illegal and constitutional, a leading politics expert claims. Aberdeen University’s Professor Michael Keating says a “paradox” means a ballot called by Edinburgh alone could be legally illegitimate and constitutionally sound at the same time due to the way UK rules are drawn up. And he says these rules must be changed “if the UK is to survive as a union of nations rather than a decentralised unitary state”. Keating – who will next month release his new book State and Nation in the United Kingdom: The Fractured Union – makes the claim in a new piece for the Scottish Centre on European Relations (SCER) think tank.
AN appeal in the People’s Action on Section 30 will be heard on April 6, before the Scottish Parliamentary election after Lord Malcolm yesterday granted a motion of urgent disposal to speed up the process at the Court of Session. Indy campaigner Martin Keatings, convener of Forward As One, is seeking a declarator from the court that the Scottish Government has the power to hold a second independence referendum without “consent” from Westminster. Lady Carmichael dismissed the case after a two-day hearing last month, ruling it was “premature” and the question of another indyref was “also hypothetical, and may never come to pass”.