WESTMINSTER MPs and Holyrood are now at war over the right of the Scottish Government to call an independence referendum, with MPs demanding the final say on arrangements.
The Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, chaired by MP Ian Davidson, claims in a report today that the "overwhelming weight of evidence" shows that the Scottish Parliament cannot presently legislate to hold a referendum on separation.
The report also demands any final arrangements for a referendum should be subject to a triple lock by Westminster – approval through a Section 30 notice, then scrutiny by the Scottish Affairs Committee, before final "approval by Scotland's MPs".
A spokesman for Government Strategy Secretary Bruce Crawford MSP was dismissive of the report. He said: "This exercise is devoid of credibility.
"We set out the position about the right and ability of the Scottish Parliament to hold an independence referendum in our January consultation paper.
"We have also always said that we have absolutely no objection to a Section 30 Order in regard to the referendum, so long as no Westminster strings are attached, and an order on that basis could be agreed very shortly.
"The real issue is that the terms and timing of the referendum must be decided in Scotland, by the Scottish Parliament – not dictated by Westminster – and that includes a possible 'more powers' option."
The report insists agreement should be reached between Holyrood and Westminster to create the necessary legal powers, otherwise Scotland risks "indefinite legal and political wrangling and uncertainty over its future".
Mr Davidson said: "It is clear from our evidence the Scottish Parliament has no powers to hold a binding or an advisory referendum on constitutional change. It is also clear any attempt to do so would result in legal disputes and delay."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article