The Indyref2 question in the Bill being presented to the Supreme Court by the Scottish Government’s lawyers has not been tested by the Electoral Commission.
In a response to a Written Question from Stephen Kerr MSP, Minister for the Constitution Angus Robertson said:
“In early 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Electoral Commission to re-test the referendum question used in 2014. Work on this was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have announced our intention to hold an independence referendum on 19 October 2023, and the Lord Advocate has made a reference to the Supreme Court.
We will undertake the necessary preparations for a referendum, including on question testing, at the appropriate time.”
Stephen Kerr MSP said:
“The SNP’s lack of attention to the detail in their Bill which they have submitted to the highest court in the land is indicative of their true aim. Their goal isn’t to get this Bill passed, it is to get it rejected, and use that rejection to blame the English for blocking a referendum.
If you submit a Bill to the Supreme Court for judgement, you’d expect it to be the Bill you were going to present to the Scottish Parliament.
All the civil servant work going in to create lengthy but equally empty documents on breaking Scotland off from the UK is being wasted, it’s a façade. The entire rigmarole is set up to give Nicola Sturgeon the message “They are stopping Indyref2, vote for us.
We could be working on health, education, the justice system, ferries; but instead, we’re being forced through this waste of time debate. And all just to give the SNP an election line.”
