Scotland (Referenda) Bill 2020

A Bill To amend the Scotland Act 1998 to reserve the power to hold a referendum or similar public ballot which relates to any matter reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom*

Section 1. Reservation of Referenda

(1) The Scotland Act 1998 is amended as follows:

(2) The following is amended into Schedule 5 (Reserved Matters), Part I (General Reservations), under the heading ‘The Constitution’:

1. (1) The holding of a referendum which relates to any reserved matter is reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, including —

• (a) a referendum which bind the Scottish Government to seek the devolution of any reserved power

• (b) a referendum which are ‘consultive’ or ‘non-binding’, but which pertain - wholly or partly - to a reserved matter

• (c) any other public ballot, which, a reasonable person would interpret as referring to or relating to a reserved matter.

(2) For the purposes of this paragraph, a referendum is any public ballot of the electorate on a question, or multiple questions pertaining to a political issue.

Section 2 - Extent, commencement, and short title (1) This Act extends to Scotland (2) This Act shall come into force immediately after receiving Royal Assent

(3) This Act may be cited as the Scotland (Referenda) Act 2020

This Bill was written and submitted by the Rt. Hon. Sir /u/Duncs11 GCT KT KCB QC PC MP (Cumbria and Lancashire North) MSP (Angus, Perth, and Stirling) FRS, First Minister of Scotland, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government and with the additional support of the Libertarian Party UK. This reading will end on the 13th of April.

Opening Speech

Mr. Deputy Speaker,

I am proud to introduce this bill to the House of Commons today on an occasion where I mix my duties as a Member of Parliament with my duties as First Minister of Scotland to present this bill with the blessing of both the Scottish Government and Her Majesty’s Government to clear up what is an unfortunate grey area in the Scotland Act 1998.

Currently, there is significant legal debate as to if the Scotland Act 1998 allows for referenda to be called unilaterally by the Scottish Parliament which relate to reserved matters. Some say yes, some say no, and this uncertainty has been exploited in the past. Indeed, even the same body can come out with conflicting opinions on this, with a 2012 House of Lords report concluding:

An authoritative determination of the legal issues analysed in this chapter could be given only by the courts. Having considered the matter in detail, we are of the clear view that the legal analysis offered by the UK Government is correct. Without amendment, the Scotland Act 1998 confers no legislative power on the Scottish Parliament to pass an Act purporting to authorise a referendum about independence.

When it considered the question of a referendum - even a ‘consultative’ referendum held on a reserved matter (in this case the Union). However, in 2018 the House of Lords reported its view that a unilateral referendum on a reserved matter was within competence. As one can see, this creates a clearly confusing area, and it is not one that will be solved within the current framework.

I therefore bring this bill to clear up the rules and to ensure that the current system of devolution is respected. Under this bill, the Scottish Government may not seek to call a referendum about a reserved matter unilaterally - a clear law to clear up the confusion of the past. Of course, this does not ban a referendum about devolution - it just means that a clear agreement needs to be reached by Her Majesty’s Government and the Scottish Government, and power temporarily devolved under a Section 30 order as happened with the 2014 Referendum on independence. This process ensures that there is a clear understanding, and actually makes it more likely that the referendum happens and the result is implemented.

The proposals in this bill are supported by the Scottish Government, who hold a majority in the Scottish Parliament - this is not the UK Parliament imposing its will against Scotland. Indeed, if you are so inclined, you could consider this a request to reserve this power. It is a reasonable request to clear up legal confusion, and so I would ask you to support this bill!