Legal action could be taken against the UK Government if it insists on rejecting Nicola Sturgeon’s second independence referendum bid, according to a Scottish Cabinet minister.
Constitutional Relations secretary Michael Russell failed to rule out the possibility of going to court when the prospect was raised at the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
His remarks came as Boris Johnson rejected calls for another independence poll with the Queen’s speech dismissing a repeat of the “once in a generation” vote in 2014.
Ms Sturgeon has said she will formally seek the Section 30 order required to transfer referendum-holding powers from Westminster to Holyrood within weeks.
And today, she will use her keynote address at P&J Live to argue that Scotland must “race to join the top tier of independent nations”.
However, the UK Government’s refusal to consider another referendum has led to an increasing sense of frustration within the party.
At a fringe meeting yesterday Mr Russell was asked if the courts would be asked to intervene in an attempt to overcome the UK Government’s intransigence.
Mr Russell said he would be “reluctant” to use public money in such a way, but added: “I do think we’re seeing an interesting period.
“For a long time, it appeared constitutional jurisprudence wasn’t something that we tended to rely on.
“Now, we’re beginning to see the development of certain things taking place, so I don’t know. It cannot be ruled out.”
Ms Sturgeon also declined to rule out going to court when she was asked a similar question on BBC Radio Scotland.
During various media appearances, Ms Sturgeon was tackled on border arrangements between an independent Scotland in the EU and a post-Brexit England. The first minister failed to rule out customs checks and other infrastructure associated with a hard border when she was questioned on Sunday about the issue.
Yesterday the issue cropped up again when Ms Sturgeon said she would “make sure that Scotland continues to trade with the rest of the UK in the same way that the rest of the UK will have big interests in continuing to trade with Scotland”.
She added: “It would be my intention that [a hard border] does not happen.”
But at the fringe event, Mr Russell appeared to acknowledge that the EU could impose a hard border between Scotland and England.
He said: “There will be issues that will confront us as an independent country which we will have to recognise and respond to.
“The issue of the relationship between countries and borders between countries, of course, will be an issue. But it will be governed by our membership of the EU, that is the important issue, just as Ireland’s relationship with the UK will be governed.”
Ms Sturgeon’s speech today will include a pro-independence pitch to the party faithful with the SNP leader declaring that Scotland is “rich enough, strong enough and big enough to take our place among the proud, independent nations of the world”.
She will say: “We must reject a post-Brexit race to the bottom and embrace instead a race to join the top tier of independent nations.
“We will be in the EU single market and also the closest neighbour to our friends in the rest of the UK – a bridge between the EU and the UK, making our country a magnet for global investment. That’s what I call the best of both worlds.”