Don’t let SNP play its costly games again

IT was an extraordinary judgment by the highest court in the land – and an utter humiliation for the SNP.

Judges ruled that the Scottish Government ‘deliberately’ attempted to legislate beyond Holyrood’s remit. They were scathing in their criticism, which was framed in the most damning of terms.

Ministers were warned it was an ill-fated course of action – but ploughed ahead regardless. In reality, the SNP should be paying the bill for this pointless legal battle, and not the hard-pressed taxpayer.

This was a smoke-and-mirrors row, aimed at portraying the Tories as bogeymen opposed to protecting children’s rights.

Indeed, Nicola Sturgeon said the UK Government was ‘morally repugnant’ for questioning the lawfulness of the Bills.

She was wrong – but what is morally repugnant is her own administration’s cavalier attitude to squandering public funds on political posturing.

Whitehall lawyers suggested amendments which they said would ensure the Bills were compatible with the Scotland Act.

But the changes were rejected by the Scottish Government – determined, as ever, to engineer an unnecessary conflict.

It is important to remember that we have been here before – the Supreme Court also ruled large parts of the SNP’s doomed Named Person scheme were unlawful.

John Swinney claimed to be ‘bitterly disappointed’ by yesterday’s decision, and SNP supporters were railing against interference from an ‘English’ court.

But the judge who handed down the ruling, Lord Reed, is a Scot – and the judgment concerned not the content of the policy, but whether the legislation was competent.

The SNP celebrated when the Supreme Court ruled the UK Government had shut down the Commons illegally in 2019, ahead of the initial Brexit deadline.

It cannot now claim that the same court has got it wrong – justice cannot be selective, and the judges’ decision is final.

The internal probe into alleged sexual harassment by Alex Salmond was also a disaster – struck down after a judicial review, leaving a bill of more than £500,000.

Ministers never seem to learn from their mistakes. Yesterday’s judgment puts the parliamentary authorities on notice that it is incumbent upon them to stop moves such as this, which are outside the Scottish parliament’s remit.

And it’s a warning shot for the SNP that any attempt to override Westminster and introduce its own referendum legislation will fail.

The SNP must never again be allowed to hijack parliament for costly constitutional game-playing.