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Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon paved the way on Sunday to face independence with Boris Johnson early next year, saying Covid-19 would be back by then “in desperation”.
Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party won one seat less than a full majority in the 129-seat Holyrood parliamentary election, but said the 64-seat victory was a “tremendous” victory.
With the support of the pro-independence Greens, with eight seats, the parliamentary majority has been renewed for a second referendum on Scotland that will separate it from the rest of the UK.
Sturgeon, speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr program, reiterated his commitment to repeat the 2014 independence referendum in the first half of his parliamentary term if Covid-19 had been brought under control.
Asked if these conditions could be met by spring 2022 – according to some predictions made by scientists – he said: “I hope these predictions are correct.”
He said in the first half of parliament that a referendum would work “for that period of time” and that the legislation would not be “rejected” at the beginning of next year. Johnson and his ministers say it will take much longer to heal the UK from the pandemic.
Johnson said talking about “demolishing our country” would be “irresponsible and reckless” and would vote for a second independence that would threaten the integrity of the UK and its prime minister.
But Michael Gove, the 314-year-old cabinet minister responsible for overseeing the political union, was keen not to give the impression that the UK government would use strong arm tactics to block a referendum.
Gove told the Marr show that the UK government would not go to the Supreme Court to try to block the independence vote, adding: “We are not getting there.”
Under the 1998 Scottish Act of Holyrood Parliament, constitutional issues are “reserved” for the UK parliament. Johnson argues that Westminster should accept a second ballot.
However, Gove and Johnson expressly want to avoid using these legal powers. SNP’s John Swinney has already accused the Prime Minister of acting as “boss” over Scotland.
Gove, who is working on a new cabinet office base in Glasgow next week, said: “At the moment the priority is not to court cases or independence legislation – it is to recover from the pandemic.”
He says the Johnson administration will need time to recover. Gove highlighted the significant delay in NHS operations and highlighted the need for a program to “catch” the school children as a priority.
The strategy is to argue that Sturgeon is acting recklessly by focusing on constitutional issues, hopefully Edinburgh and Westminster are hoping to push back the moment when the branches block the referendum.
Other parties than the UK government may take legal action if they feel Sturgeon is exceeding their constitutional powers. The prime minister has always said he is in favor of a legal referendum, not the “savage” version seen in Catalonia.
Sturgeon said it would be “absurd” for the Johnson administration to use the courts to “overthrow Scottish democracy.” This move would lead to a “very bad place”.
“The UK government knows that if we get to the state that is being determined in the courts, what the UK government is arguing is that there is no democratic path to independence for Scotland,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johnson has invited the heads of the disbanded assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to a “Team UK” summit to discuss pandemic recovery.
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