MICHAEL Gove has refused to rule out the prospect that the UK Government could take the Scottish Government to court if Nicola Sturgeon presses ahead with a second independence referendum without Westminster consent.
The Cabinet Office Minister was asked to make clear if Westminster had explicitly ruled out going to the Supreme Court, should the First Minister bring forward legislation for a referendum without the agreement of the UK Government.
Sturgeon has already told the Prime Minister that the Holyrood election – in which a majority of independence supporting MSPs were returned – means it is now a case of “when not if” there is another vote on the issue.
But Gove insisted the priority must be on the country’s coronavirus recovery, branding any talk of a second referendum as a “distraction” and a “diversion” from that.
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His comments came after the SNP was elected for a record fourth term in power at Holyrood, on the basis of a manifesto which promised another vote on independence before the end of 2023.
And while the SNP narrowly failed to get an absolute majority, falling one short with a tally of 64 MSPs, the record eight Scottish Green MSPs that were voted in means there is a majority for independence within the new Parliament.
But speaking to journalists yesterday, Gove insisted: “Our focus is purely and principally on recovery at the moment. So of course there is a conversation about the constitution that some people will want to have. But we think that is a distraction from the urgent need to make sure that we deal with backlog in NHS waiting lists, that we work together on economic recovery overall and that we also learn from each other when it comes to public sector recovery as well, whether it is in education or criminal justice.”
He continued: “Politics is the language of priorities, our priority is to make sure we work with others on recovery at this moment. It is not a conversation we believe is right to have at this moment, because it can only be a diversion of energy and attention at a time when there are far more pressing issues.”
READ MORE: Michael Gove claims Scots congratulated him on the street after election
Asked if the UK Government would take legal action to block a referendum, Gove would only say: “I’m not getting into the whole question of court and litigation and all the rest of it, because if we start theorising in the area then we are sucking oxygen out of the room when we should all be concentrating on recovery.”
He added: “Other people I am sure will want to speculate or theorise about these questions, but to my mind every second spent asking questions about the Supreme Court is a second wasted when it comes to concentrating on the issues in hand.”
Meanwhile, a row is brewing over UK government plans to spend billions of pounds directly in devolved areas. Under the devolved settlement, the UK Government distributes funds to Scottish ministers who decide how they spend the money in areas.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “It is unsurprising that the Tories are in panic mode in response to last week’s emphatic SNP election victory, but they need to realise that ‘working together’ involves doing things with Scotland – not doing things to Scotland.”
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