AS long as Boris Johnson defies democracy and withholds consent for a Section 30 referendum, the Scottish Government will have to have recourse to the UK Supreme Court to fight for the right to hold indyref2. Some say they should already have done so, given the mandate won in 2016.
The Tory Government has already had something of a kicking in the Supreme Court over such cases as the unlawful prorogation of Parliament and the most recent case in which the court found the Government had acted unlawfully over PPE procurement.
So it seems passing strange that in the past few days, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has written to Deputy First Minister John Swinney threatening both the Scottish Government’s United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, and Andy Wightman’s Member’s Bill to incorporate the European Charter of Local Self-Government, with Jack’s obvious implication that he will go to the Supreme Court – he has four weeks to do so – to strike them both down.
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Jack argued on behalf of Downing Street that these bills could affect the ability of the UK Government to legislate for Scotland and might be beyond Holyrood’s competence. However, it is utterly mystifying that a Tory Secretary of State should be thinking of challenging Scottish legislation in the middle of the election campaign and it could be a spectacular own goal.
It is even more baffling given that the Rights of the Child Bill was passed unanimously after some excellent debates in the main chamber which showed genuine cross-party working to pass this historic law. Scotland has thus become the first country in the UK and one of only a few nations around the world to pass the landmark legislation.
On the afternoon of the final vote, Tory MSP Alexander Stewart stated: “The bill does its job of incorporating the UNCRC into Scots law. It is incredibly important that it delivers on its full potential, and protects and enhances the rights of children and young people across Scotland. I am very happy to support it today.”
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So were all his Tory colleagues and MSPs of all the parties. No wonder Swinney was fizzing yesterday: “Once again, we are seeing the tale of two governments play out in front of us, with the one in Holyrood passing landmark legislation to incorporate children’s rights into decision-making and the Tories at Westminster threatening to rip the bill up in a blatant power grab.
“It is quite extraordinary that Alister Jack is now threatening to trample all over devolution and block this landmark legislation that puts children’s rights at the heart of all our decision-making.”
Given the strong Tory support for the Rights of the Child Bill, did Jack even bother to consult the Scottish branch management? Or is there something sinister at play here – perhaps to show the Tory Government controls the Supreme Court ahead of any indyref2 case?
At any rate it’s an unnecessary gamble, so what’s the real story?
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