Sturgeon ‘won’t win independence whatever judges say’

NICOLA STURGEON will fail to win Scottish independence even if the Supreme Court rules today that she has the legal power to stage a referendum, the SNP’S former deputy leader has said.

Jim Sillars said he hoped the UK Government would triumph in the test case, and that the court’s five justices would rule this morning that Ms Sturgeon could not stage a legal separation vote.

He argued that any referendum staged by Ms Sturgeon would be a “glorified opinion poll”, the result of which would be rendered meaningless by Unionist parties and voters boycotting it.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, the First Minister’s most senior law officer, argued during the Supreme Court hearing last month that any such referendum would be “entirely advisory” and have no legal effect.

Mr Sillars said Ms Sturgeon had “put the cart before the horse”, arguing she had focused on staging a referendum without building up the majority support for independence required to win. He said the First Minister should focus on “domestic priorities” such as the problems afflicting the Scottish health and education systems.

The court, led by its Scottish president, Lord Reed of Allermuir, is to hand down its decision at 9.45am on whether her proposed Referendum Bill is within Holyrood’s powers. Constitutional affairs are reserved to Westminster.

The five justices may also refuse to make a ruling if they consider it premature. The First Minister has yet to table the legislation at the Scottish Parliament. If she loses, Tory ministers are expected to urge Ms Sturgeon to shelve her referendum plans and focus on the cost of living crisis.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, said SNP ministers “should abandon their referendum obsession and work with Rishi Sunak and the UK Government to tackle the big challenges we all face”.

Thousands of independence supporters are expected to gather at 15 rallies across Scotland to mark today’s ruling, with speakers to argue that Scots are trapped inside the Union with no way for them to break free. Ms Sturgeon has said her back-up plan is to use the next general election as a “de facto referendum”, arguing she could open negotiations with the UK Government if nationalist parties get more than 50 per cent of the popular vote. Senior SNP insiders are sceptical about the proposal, warning the threshold could be especially difficult to reach if Scots see the opportunity to vote in a Labour government.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Lord Advocate’s reference of this question to the Supreme Court was intended to achieve legal clarity on this point. A judgment will be handed down by the court and ministers will respond.”