Lawyers for the UK Government argue the highest court in the land should throw out Nicola Sturgeon’s new legal challenge for an independence referendum.
They stepped in two weeks after the first minister announced the Scottish Government is taking court action to lay the groundwork for another vote on quitting the UK.
Ms Sturgeon wants a referendum to take place on October 19 next year.
But she needs to prove the vote will be legally sound at Holyrood while trying to get around the prime minister’s blanket refusal.
If all avenues fail, the SNP and Green administration intent to turn the next general election into an effective vote on the single issue of independence.
‘Now is not the time’
A UK Government spokesperson confirmed their legal response on Tuesday afternoon.
“We have been clear that now is not the time to be discussing independence referendum, when people across Scotland want both their governments to be working together on the issues that matter to them and their families,” the government said.
“However, following the Lord Advocate’s referral of the Scottish Government’s draft Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, the UK Government has today lodged its initial response with the Supreme Court.
“The papers confirm that the Advocate General for Scotland will become a formal party to the case, and ask the Court to consider whether it should accept the Lord Advocate’s referral.”
Last week, it emerged Scotland’s top law officer was not confident Holyrood has the powers to legislate for a new independence referendum.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain agreed to refer the matter to the Supreme Court as Ms Sturgeon set her course for another vote.
‘Must be resolved’
Ms Sturgeon announced her plan to the Scottish Parliament on June 28.
She said: “The issue of independence cannot be suppressed. It must be resolved through a process that is above reproach and commands confidence.
“My determination is to secure a process that allows the people of Scotland to express their views in a legal, constitutional referendum.”
On the UK Government court response, a spokesman for the first minister said on Tuesday: “The UK Government’s repeated attempts to block democracy – which now seem to extend to an unwillingness to even make a substantive argument before the Supreme Court – serve only to demonstrate how little confidence it has in its case for the union.”