Does Westminster even care about the Union?

The Supreme Court will hand down its judgment in the Scottish independence referendum case next Wednesday. This is the reference brought by the Lord Advocate, Scotland’s most senior law officer, over Nicola Sturgeon’s proposed Scottish Independence Referendum Bill.

Downing Street has refused to grant a re-run of the 2014 referendum, in which Scots voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Sturgeon has said her government will simply hold a referendum of its own. Going to the Supreme Court is a political move, and presumably reflects Sturgeon’s suspicion that Holyrood holding a referendum in defiance of Westminster is unlawful.

The issues before the justices are threefold. One, whether this is a ‘devolution issue’. If it’s not, it is outside the Court’s jurisdiction. Second, whether the Court ought to exercise its inherent discretion to decline making a ruling. Third, whether Sturgeon’s proposed referendum Bill relates to ‘the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England’ or ‘the Parliament of the United Kingdom’, which are reserved to Westminster under the 1998 Act.