BORIS Johnson has been told to apologise personally for a Downing Street source’s “dictatorial and dangerous” claims that Scotland’s judges are politically biased.
Following the Court of Session’s ruling that the decision to suspend the UK Parliament was unlawful, a Number 10 source told The Sun that the Scottish courts were never going to give the Tory Government a fair hearing.
The paper’s contact said: “We note that last week the High Court in London did not rule that prorogation was unlawful. The legal activists choose the Scottish courts for a reason.”
The remarks sparked outrage across the political spectrum. Even the Scottish Tories’ interim leader Jackson Carlaw and the UK’s Justice Secretary moved to condemn them.
Downing Street eventually moved to distance itself from the remarks saying it had “absolute respect for the independence of the judiciary.”
READ MORE: Tories refuse to recall MPs despite Court of Session ruling
But SNP MP Tommy Sheppard said that wasn’t enough. He said: “The buck stops with Boris Johnson. It is dictatorial and dangerous for the Prime Minister or his office to be questioning the integrity and independence of the Scottish courts, just because he doesn’t like what they’ve ruled. He should apologise immediately.
“Number 10’s response to the ruling of the Court of Session is absolutely shameful. It is straight out of the tinpot dictators’ playbook and reveals the utter contempt the Tories’ have for democratic process.
“Attempting to shut Scotland up demonstrates the Tories’ complete lack of respect – it’s almost as if they’re going out of their way to make the case for independence.”
Theresa May’s former chief of staff Gavin Barwell also urged caution. He tweeted: “This is a very unwise road for a party that believes in a) the Union and b) the rule of law to go down.”
READ MORE: Scottish court ruling threatens to help end Boris Johnson’s reign
Tory MSP and constitutional law professor Adam Tomkins agreed: “To politicians who don’t like court judgments: don’t attack the judges or the independence of the legal system. Don’t ever do that.
“Appeal, test your legal arguments in a superior court. Why does this even need saying?”
UK Justice Secretary Robert Buckland slapped down the unidentified Downing Street source. He tweeted: “Our judges are renowned around the world for their excellence and impartiality and I have total confidence in their independence in every case.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the remarks were “pitiful, pathetic and desperate”.
Carlaw tweeted: “Let’s be very clear & I don’t much care where the sources are from who might suggest otherwise – we have absolute confidence in the independence and integrity of the Scottish judiciary.”
It’s understood that the 75 MPs and peers who first took the case to the Court of Session last month did so because England’s High Court does not sit in August.
In their sensational decision the three judges, chaired by Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, said the Tories were trying to stymie Parliament by proroguing the Commons in the run-up to the Brexit deadline. They also suggested the Prime Minister had misled the Queen.
There will be an emergency hearing at the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
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