Explainer-in-brief: What is the legal basis for a new Scottish ballot?
Nicola Sturgeon has chosen the date for a second referendum on independence: 9 October 2023. The question will have the exact same phrasing that was used in 2014 – when 45 per cent voted for independence and 55 per cent voted against it: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
The question of independence came up again in relation to Brexit, when 62 per cent of Scotland voted to remain in the EU. But Johnson’s government never allowed for a second referendum, arguing that the 2014 one was a “once in a generation opportunity”.
Sturgeon hopes to get permission to use section 30 of the Scotland Act again to hold the referendum – but this could be problematic, because the legal powers transferred to Scotland back in 2014 were always only meant to be temporary.
If Scotland decides to go ahead and hold a referendum without section 30 powers, the British government could bring it to the Supreme Court.