Scottish Nationalist lesson from the Protocol

SIR – Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, has asked for a ruling from the Supreme Court on whether her Referendum Bill is within Holyrood’s powers, despite constitutional matters being reserved to Westminster.

It is curious that the Scottish Nationalists have not made more of the enactment of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The British Government was forced to argue in the Belfast High Court last year that, following the Withdrawal Agreement Act, Article 6 of the Act of Union 1800 no longer applied. This represented a fundamental constitutional change for Northern Ireland, which was never asked for consent, nor was the Protocolvoted on in Parliament – yet the judge decided in favour of the Government.

An appeal saw the matter referred to the Supreme Court, which will consider it on November 30. It is conceivable that the Supreme Court could rule the Northern Ireland Protocol to be unlawful.

Scottish Nationalists should have been doing a jig at the ruling in Belfast’s court last year, but then perhaps they would have had to look closely at the damage the Protocol has done to Northern Ireland, not just in trade terms, and think hard about the real consequences of Scottish independence.

Anne Cattermull

London SW17

SIR – Boris Johnson should call Nicola Sturgeon’s bluff and let the whole United Kingdom vote on Scottish independence. Independence will save the cost of supporting Scotland, and the loss of Scottish MPS will probably ensure that Labour never wins again.

As a bonus, Mr Johnson will probably remain Prime Minister.

John Frankel

Kingsclere, Berkshire