The Scottish government has been urged to “come clean once and for all” about whether it has the power to legislate for a second independence referendum at Holyrood.
A limited selection of legal advice was published on Tuesday after a lengthy freedom of information battle with the Scotsman newspaper, but the key question of whether the SNP government has been advised that putting forward a bill for a second independence referendum is within the powers of the Scottish parliament is not included in the disclosure.
Holyrood opposition parties condemned the “murky secretive approach” after the limited publication was forced by a ruling from the information commissioner, who stated there was “exceptional” public interest in revealing the advice.
Scottish Labour’s constitution spokesperson, Sarah Boyack, welcomed “a rare win for transparency”, but added: “This advice leaves the big questions unanswered.”
“Another referendum is the SNP’s answer to every question under the sun, so the public shouldn’t be kept in the dark on the legality of it. The SNP have dragged this circus out for long enough – they need to come clean once and for all,” she said.