The court held last week, in Devolution issues under the Scotland Act 1998, Reference by the Lord Advocate [2022] UKSC 31, that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence. It rejected written submissions from the Scottish National Party on the right to self-determination, holding that this right was not in issue.
Parkinson, senior partner at Kingsley Napley and a former deputy head of the Attorney General's office, said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ‘needed to show that she had tried to progress the issue of independence notwithstanding the refusal of the UK government to countenance a fresh referendum.
‘Her immediate acceptance of the decision, and recognition that the Supreme Court does not make law and only interprets it, does her credit. Having explored this legal option and signalled respect for the outcome, she will, of course, now continue to agitate politically’.
