I am shocked and stunned that the UK government has legal advice that a referendum bill falls outwith the legislative competence of Holyrood.
Shocked.
And stunned.
In fact I am very stunned.
Why did no-one mention this years (eg four and a half years) ago?
But the Consultative Paper doesn’t say that: it simply states “The UK Government has reached this view having given careful consideration to the legal position” Not only does it refuse to publish its legal advice (despite the sensible urgings of Ming Campbell) but it doesn’t even provide a decent conspectus of it. Perhaps this is just standard Whitehall un-transparency, but I suspect that it conceals the fact that the legal advice is not as clear cut and their bravado would have us believe.
try my previous posts on the topic for a summary of the legal arguments. These arguments are not new. The dubiety about holyrood having legal competence to hold a referendum is shared by most public lawyers.