Setback for indyref campaigner

A political campaigner who believes Holyrood has the power to call a second independence campaign has suffered a setback in his legal action.

Martin Keatings has taken the UK and the Scottish governments as well as the Lord Advocate to the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He is seeking to secure a ruling that another vote could be legislated for without any input from Westminster.

His legal team recently asked judge Lady Poole to pass a protective expenses order (PEO) – this would mean he would not have to pay the full legal bills of his opponents if he lost the action. Mr Keating’s lawyers asked that he should only have to pay £5,000 of legal costs. His opponents would be limited to only paying £30,000 each.

The move was opposed by lawyers acting for both governments and the Lord Advocate. They argued that such an order would place a strain on public finances as the estimated cost of the action was almost £140,000.

The court also heard evidence that Mr Keatings, a veteran campaigner for Scottish independence, has already raised more than £40,000 from crowdfunding to pay for costs.

In a written judgment issued yesterday, Lady Poole said: “I consider that the pursuer has an indirect financial interest in the outcome of this case were I to grant the PEO in the form sought. This arises because of the crowdfunding currently being utilised to fund legal expenses of the action.”

She added that the pursuer’s motion for a PEO was being refused “because the criteria for grant are not met”.