Category Archives: Scottish independence

MPs vote to give smoking ban bill second reading – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak’s authority suffers blow as several Conservatives vote against bill, which clears first Commons hurdle with 383 votes to 67

At 12.30pm a transport minister will respond to an urgent question in the Commons tabled by Labour on job losses in the rail industry. That means the debate on the smoking ban will will not start until about 1.15pm.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, is one of the Britons speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Brussels starting today. The conference, which features hardline rightwingers from around the world committed to the NatCons’ ‘faith, flag and family’ brand of conservatism, is going ahead despite two venues refusing to host them at relatively short notice.

The current UK government doesn’t have the political will to take on the ECHR and hasn’t laid the ground work for doing so.

And so it’s no surprise that recent noises in this direction are easily dismissed as inauthentic.

Any attempt to include a plan for ECHR withdrawal in a losing Conservative election manifesto risks setting the cause back a generation.

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Scotland wasting time on constitutional disputes, says thinktank

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Gordon Brown’s Our Scottish Future says reforms and investment hampered by focus on referendums

Scotland’s devolved government has been beset by poor decision-making for the past decade because of an obsession with constitutional disputes, a thinktank says.

The report, by Gordon Brown’s Our Scottish Future thinktank, which has close ties to Labour, says much-needed reforms to public services and economic investment have been hampered by short-term decision-making and an unrelenting focus on referendums and elections.

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Humza Yousaf quells SNP rebellion with independence strategy compromise

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Party leader adopts amendment that a majority of Westminster seats are needed to have mandate to negotiate

Humza Yousaf has quelled a rebellion by Scottish National party MPs by agreeing to a compromise with his critics over his independence strategy.

The party’s annual conference in Aberdeen decided that if the SNP wins a majority of Scotland’s Westminster seats at the general election, it will have the mandate to negotiate independence with the UK government.

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My view on Scottish independence has ‘moved’, says Kezia Dugdale

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When asked how she would vote in a referendum, former Labour leader in Scotland says she will ‘decide at the time’

Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has said her stance on independence has “moved”, as she can no longer argue for staying in the UK with the same strength she did in the run-up to the 2014 referendum.

Dugdale said she felt that Scots will eventually get a second vote on the future of the UK but did not believe another referendum would take place within the next decade.

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Independent Scotland would base citizenship on current Irish model

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Plans, unveiled by Humza Yousaf, include significantly reducing application fees

An independent Scotland would adopt an “open and inclusive” approach to citizenship based on the current Irish model, according to proposals set out in a Scottish government paper.

The plans, unveiled by Humza Yousaf on Thursday, include ditching citizenship tests and significantly reducing application fees in contrast to Westminster’s “regressive” approach to migration.

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SNP leader says general election win would be mandate for independence push

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Humza Yousaf’s proposal in event of a victory in Scotland falls short of strategy backed by Nicola Sturgeon

Humza Yousaf has said a win in Scotland for the Scottish National party in the next general election would be a mandate to apply further pressure on Westminster for Scottish independence.

The proposal, made by the SNP leader as he addressed party members gathered in Dundee, falls short of the de facto referendum strategy favoured by his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.

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Tory former policing minister warns Braverman that laughing gas ban could boost trade for drug dealers – UK politics live

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Kit Malthouse tells home secretary of risks of moving substance from legitimate market into the illegitimate market

As Alex Wickham from Politico points out, the questions Rishi Sunak is getting this morning suggest this audience is not happy with the government’s record on crime.

Q: The Conservatives have “dropped the ball a little bit, to be honest”. The questioner says laughing gas is the least of their problems. People are using much harder drugs. He has skimmed through the action plan document. Some of it is good. But punishments need to be firmer. People probably won’t turn up for community sentences. And the government needs to tackle drugs at source.

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Sturgeon’s successor will inherit ‘mess’ of SNP at war with itself

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Key resignations, ideological conflicts and drop in membership numbers have left the SNP close to collapse

They are phrases the Scottish National party once happily used as attack lines against the Conservatives and Labour: “tremendous mess”, “unedifying” and “spectacularly wrong”.

Yet they came from the SNP’s new acting chief executive and its president, Mike Russell, and he was talking about his own party. “I think it is fair to say there is a tremendous mess and we have to clear it up,” he told the BBC on Sunday.

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SNP Westminster leader backs Humza Yousaf as next Scottish first minister

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Speaking ahead of voting opening on Monday, Stephen Flynn praises Yousaf’s childcare, independence and energy plans

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, has given his backing to Humza Yousaf to be Scotland’s next first minister, saying the Scottish health secretary can take the party to “new heights”.

There are three candidates battling to be the next SNP leader and Scottish first minister.

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Sturgeon exit may delay new Scotland independence vote by five years

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SNP scraps conference on first minister’s proposal to use next general election as ‘de facto referendum’

Senior figures in the Scottish National party believe Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation could delay their effort to stage another independence referendum by at least five years.

The party’s national executive committee confirmed on Thursday evening that Sturgeon’s plan – to stage a special conference on her proposals to use the next election as a single-issue “de facto referendum” on independence – had been scrapped.

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SNP top leaders urge overhaul of Sturgeon independence plan

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Westminster chief and president say conference on outgoing leader’s strategy should be delayed

Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation could prompt a major rethink around her plans to fight the next UK general election as a de facto referendum on independence, the Scottish National party’s leader in Westminster has suggested.

After the shock announcement of the first minister’s departure on Wednesday, Stephen Flynn said the special conference due to be held next month on Sturgeon’s plan should be pushed back to give the new leader time to set out their intentions.

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Keir Starmer says SNP and Westminster using gender recognition bill for political advantage – UK politics live

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Labour leader tells LBC issue is being used as a political football after Scottish Tory MSP urges PM not to block bill

This is what Keir Starmer said in his LBC interview about Scotland’s gender recognition reform bill, and the UK government’s reported intention to block it.

Starmer suggested the SNP and the Tories were both exploiting the Scottish gender recognition bill for political advantage. He said:

I am worried about the fact that I think this is being used by the SNP as a sort of devolution political football. And I think it’s being used by the government – or might be used – as a divisive football in relation to the particular issue.

On this whole issue of trans rights, I think the government is looking to divide people rather than bring people together.

He refused to say whether Labour would support the UK government if it did block the legislation. When it was put to him that, from what he was saying about his reservatations about the bill that he was minded to support Rishi Sunak on this, he did not accept that. He said he would want to see exactly what the government said before deciding how to react. Blocking Scottish legislation would be “a big step for a government to take”, he said. But he also said No 10 was treading “very, very carefully” (which rather undermines the claim he made about the Tories potentially exploiting this for party political advantage).

He said that he accepted the Gender Recognition Act needed to be modernised. But he confirmed that he thought people should not be able to self-certify their gender at the age of 16 (as they would be able to, under the Scottish law). And he said that he was worried about the potential impact of the Scottish bill on UK equality laws.

He said that only a tiny proportion of people were likely to want to change gender. He said:

I approach it on the basis that for 99.9-something percent of women it is all about biology, sex based rights matter, and we must preserve all those wins that we’ve had for women over many years, and including safe spaces for women.

Whilst I am sympathetic to the change that is made to make the rights of trans people in Scotland, I think we may have a clash between the position in the UK-wide legislation and the position in Scotland …

[The legislation] may mean – even though I suspect political mischief on the part of the Conservative Government and culture wars – they may have a point. It is arguable at least that what’s happened in Scotland has a potential impact on the legislation as it operates UK-wide.

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Thursday briefing: Nicola Sturgeon’s bid for a second Scottish referendum isn’t over … yet

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In today’s newsletter: the UK supreme court shot down a legal attempt to force another vote. But that doesn’t mean the SNP is out of options

Good morning.

Yesterday, the UK’s supreme court unanimously ruled that the Scottish government cannot hold a vote on independence without permission from Westminster – something four consecutive prime ministers have refused to give the Scottish government. But going to the courts was just one route, among many, that the SNP were taking to make Indyref2 a reality, and they were prepared for an unfavourable outcome.

Michelle Mone | The Conservative peer and her children secretly received £29m originating from the profits of a PPE business that was awarded large government contracts after she recommended it to ministers, documents seen by the Guardian indicate.

NHS | Ambulance crews could not respond to almost one in four 999 calls last month – the most ever – because so many were tied up outside A&Es waiting to hand patients over, dramatic new NHS figures show.

Water | A report from Surfers Against Sewage has found that water companies have been dumping sewage on to beaches and rivers even when it is not raining. The report showed that 146 dry spills had been detected over a 12-month period.

Shamima Begum | Shamima Begum would face the death penalty if sent to Bangladesh, her parents’ country of origin, and is now effectively stateless, a court has heard. The court was told that then home secretary, Sajid Javid, did not consider the consequences of removing her UK citizenship.

Housing | Michael Gove has announced that the Rochdale housing association, where two-year-old Awaab Ishak died from exposure to black mould, will have its funding cut by £1m. Gove added that he would block new funding to other housing providers who were found to be failing their tenants.

Here’s a deeply enjoyable feature wheeze: the people clinging on to old tech, from BlackBerries to typewriters. I can get my head round most of it, but Lisa from Missouri’s abiding love for fax machines will forever be beyond my understanding. Archie

This piece by Erica Berry was a wonderful reminder of how fostering connections can change our lives for the better. Looking back at her own experiences, she explores the beauty and fun in intergenerational friendships. Nimo

Henry Hill, deputy editor of ConservativeHome, has a good piece explaining the unease within Tory ranks over theoretical claims of a Swiss-style deal with the EU but much more besides. The key line: “MPs never really bought into anything one might call ‘Sunakism’”. Archie

Tomorrow is Black Friday and with it comes the advent of sales season. Brittney Rigby has a great guide on how to navigate the Black Friday sales during a cost of living crisis. Nimo

As rumbles about pressure on Ukraine to seek peace talks continue, this Intelligencer piece by Eric Levitz is a smart, even-handed summary of the six questions anyone seeking to influence Kyiv needs to be able to answer. Archie

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Senior MPs grill Jeremy Hunt on autumn statement and UK economy – live

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The chancellor is facing questions at the Commons Treasury committee

Reed says the Scotland Act gives the Scottish parliament limited powers. It cannot legislate on reserved matters. Those include fundamental matters, including the union of the UK.

If legislation related to the union, or the UK parliament, the Scottish parliament would have no power to enact it.

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Supreme court rules against Scottish parliament holding new independence referendum

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Nicola Sturgeon says ‘Scottish democracy will not be denied’ after court blocks route to referendum

The Scottish parliament cannot hold a second independence referendum without Westminster approval, the UK supreme court has ruled, in a unanimous judgment likely to anger Scottish nationalists who say the country’s future is for Scottish voters to decide.

The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said immediately after the ruling: “Scottish democracy will not be denied.”

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Only UK parliament can approve a Scottish independence poll, court told

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All four nations would have interest in referendum so Westminster has authority, UK government lawyer tells supreme court

Judges sitting in the UK’s highest court have been told Westminster is the ultimate authority on Scotland’s future because Scottish independence is of “critical importance” to the future of the UK.

Sir James Eadie KC, a senior lawyer acting for the UK government, said the union between Scotland and England was “the constitutional foundation of the modern British state”, and mattered to everyone in the UK.

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Starmer’s chief of staff to leave job as Labour leader unveils major party shake-up – UK politics live

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Latest updates: Labour leader hoping to put party on war footing ahead of next election

In the supreme court Dorothy Bain KC, the lord advocate, the Scottish government’s most senior law officer, is now setting out her case.

Here is the 50-page submission to the court setting our her case that was released in July.

Despite the political context of this reference, the questions the court has to decide are limited to technical questions of law. The court will decide them by applying legal principles.

The court will require time after the hearing to prepare its judgement. The hearing is the tip of the iceberg. We also have more than 8000 pages of written material to consider.

Therefore, as usual, is likely to be some months before we get our judgement.

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Supreme court urged to authorise fresh Scottish independence referendum

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UK’s highest court asked to allow Scottish parliament to resolve ‘festering issue’ without Westminster approval

The UK’s highest court has been told the question of Scotland’s independence is a “live and significant one”, and has been urged to authorise a fresh referendum next year.

Dorothy Bain KC, the lord advocate and Scotland’s top law officer, told the supreme court on Tuesday morning that Scottish voters had consistently elected MPs and MSPs who backed independence.

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Sunak and Truss rule out freezing energy prices at leadership hustings

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Rival candidates questioned in Perth after frontrunner Truss makes belligerent remarks about Sturgeon

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have ruled out freezing energy prices by claiming it would be an expensive, short-term fix that would fail to solve the underlying problem with soaring energy costs.

The Conservative leadership contenders were questioned on whether they would back Labour’s new strategy to fix the domestic energy cap during a leadership hustings at Perth Concert Hall on Tuesday night.

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Sunak accuses Truss of major U-turn after she says she will do ‘all I can to help struggling households’ with fuel bills – UK politics live

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Tory leadership contender says rival had previously dismissed direct support as ‘handouts’

Suella Braverman, the attorney general, is giving a speech to the Policy Exchange thinktank on equalities and rights. There is a live feed here.

In a preview of the speech published in the Daily Telegraph, Braverman says she wants to clarify the law on trans rights as it applies in schools. She says:

When it comes to gender-questioning children, we should always have compassion. At the same time, our compassion should never blind us to the harm it is possible to do to children by misplaced affirmation. Many schools and teachers believe – incorrectly – that they are under an absolute legal obligation to treat children who are gender questioning according to the preference of the child. Many are scared of the consequences of not doing so.

I want to make it clear that it is possible, within the law, for schools to refuse to use the preferred opposite-sex pronouns of a child.

The UK and partners have condemned in the strongest terms China’s escalation in the region around Taiwan, as seen through our recent G7 statement.

I instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador to explain his country’s actions.

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