Downing Street says it does not accept SNP’s claim next general election in Scotland is a de facto independence referendum – live

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No 10 says it does not accept SNP’s claim next general election in Scotland now de facto independence referendum

At the post-PMQs lobby briefing, the prime minister’s press secretary said the government would not accept the SNP argument that the next general election will be a de facto vote on independence in Scotland. Asked if Rishi Sunak agreed with that plan, the press secretary replied:

I don’t think that is the position of the UK government. The supreme court’s decision today has been very clear. Sturgeon says SNP will launch ‘major campaign in defence of Scottish democracy’ – summary of her response to court ruling

Here is the full text of the statement that Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, delivered at her press conference in response to the supreme court judgment.

And here are the key quotes.

Unless we give up on democracy – which I, for one, am not prepared to do – we must and will find another democratic, lawful and constitutional means by which the Scottish people can express their will.

In my view, that can only be an election.

The next national election scheduled for Scotland is the UK general election, making it both the first and the most obvious opportunity to seek what I described back in June as a de facto referendum.

As with any proposition in any party manifesto in any election, it is up to the people how they respond. No party can dictate the basis on which people cast their votes.

But a party can be – indeed should be – crystal clear about the purpose for which it is seeking popular support.

In this case, for the SNP, it will be to establish – just as in a referendum – majority support in Scotland for independence, so that we can then achieve independence.

Now that the supreme court’s ruling is known, and a de facto referendum is no longer hypothetical, it is necessary to agree the precise detail of the proposition we intend to put before the country – for example, the form our manifesto will take, the question we will pose, how we will seek to build support above and beyond the SNP, and what steps we will take to achieve independence if we win.

As you would expect, I have views on all of that.

However, given the magnitude of these decisions for the SNP, the process of reaching them is one that the party as a whole must be fully and actively involved in.

I can therefore confirm that I will be asking our national executive committee to convene a special party conference in the new year to discuss and agree the detail of a proposed de facto referendum.

For we should be in no doubt – as of today, democracy is what is at stake.

This is no longer just about whether or not Scotland becomes independent – vital though that decision is.

It is now more fundamental – it is now about whether or not we have the basic democratic right to choose our own future.

Until now, it has been understood and accepted – by opponents of independence as well as by its supporters – that the UK is a voluntary partnership of nations.

The Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs back in 1950 said this: “Scotland is a nation and voluntarily entered into the Union as a partner”.

That sentiment was echoed nearly 60 years later by the cross-party Calman Commission, which described the UK as “a voluntary union and partnership”.

And it was reinforced in 2014 by the Smith Commission, which made clear that “nothing in its report prevented Scotland becoming an independent country should the people of Scotland so choose”.

What today’s ruling tells us, however, is that the Scotland Act does not in fact uphold that long held understanding of the basis of the relationships that constitute the UK – on the contrary, it shatters that understanding completely.

Let’s be blunt: a so-called partnership in which one partner is denied the right to choose a different future – or even to ask itself the question — cannot be described in any way as voluntary or even a partnership at all.

Nicola Sturgeon holding a press briefing about the supreme court ruling this morning. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Updated at 08.22 EST

The UK transport secretary, Mark Harper, will meet the RMT union leader, Mick Lynch, for the first time for urgent talks to try to call off rail strikes over the festive period, my colleagues Aletha Adu and Joe Middleton report.

Updated at 08.13 EST

Joanna Cherry (SNP) asks, if the Scots continue to vote for parties that want a referendum, what is the democratic route for holding one.

Jack says he does not accept that a majority of Scots are voting for a referendum.

Back in the UQ Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con) suggests the SNP prefer to campaign for a referendum that will never take place because that allows them “to distract attention from the failures of the Scottish government”. Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, says that is a point made by many commentators in Scotland.

Towards the end of PMQs Theresa May, the former Tory PM, asked a question about Scotland. She said:

Scotland is a proud nation with a unique heritage. It is a valued member of our family of nations, a union of people bound through the generations by shared interests.

Does [Rishi Sunak] agree with me that this morning’s supreme court decision gives the Scottish nationalists, the SNP, the opportunity for once to put the people of Scotland first and end its obsession with breaking us apart?

Sunak said May put it very well.

Updated at 07.51 EST

Ian Murray, the shadow Scotland secretary, says there is no majority in Scotland for independence. But there is no mandate for the status quo either, he says.

Updated at 07.51 EST

Scottish secretary Alister Jack rejects claims SNP has mandate to hold independence referendum

Jack is responding to Blackford. He says he does not accept the claim that the 2001 election gave the SNP a mandate for a referendum. He says less than a third of people voted for the SNP.

UPDATE: Jack said:

This idea there was a mandate delivered in 2021 in the Holyrood elections is completely misleading.

As the first minister herself said in an interview in the Herald – and this is when she thought that the first minister and previous leader Alex Salmond was gaming the system with his party Alba – she very clearly said that parties should stand on both the list and the first-past-the-post constituency system.

The Greens did not fulfil that, neither did Alba.

So, let’s be clear, in the 22 Holyrood elections, the so-called mandate, less than one-third of the Scottish electorate voted for the SNP.

Updated at 08.23 EST

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, is responding to Jack.

He says the “thoughtless triumphalism” of unionists will not last long.

He says the Scotland Act should be amended to say the Scottish people have the right to choose their future.

A partnership where one side does not have the right to choose its future cannot be described as a partnership, he says.

Since 2014 the SNP has won eight elections in a row.

How many times do the people of Scotland have to vote for a referendum before they get it?

The more a referendum is denied, the more likely Scotland is to vote for independence when it gets a chance.

He says the Scots have not voted for the Conservatives since 1955.

Alister Jack responds to urgent question on supreme court

Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, is responding to the urgent question about the supreme court judgment.

He says it is important now to move on from constitutional issues, and to now focus on the issues that matter to people.

PMQs – snap verdict

Rishi Sunak comes across as a managerial politician with little interest or aptitute for the rough and tumble of party politics. That was what the Tories needed when the financial markets were in panic mode, but it meant that he was ill equipped for PMQs (an arena where partisan mudslinging often prevails) and in his early encounters with Keir Starmer he flounded.

But Sunak also seems to be someone who can learn when he needs to. Today he was much, much better, and he more or less held Starmer to a draw. You can tell it went well because he did not need to mention Jeremy Corbyn.

He attacked Starmer for Labour’s links to the union. He accused Starmer of not reading in full the OECD report he was quoting, and labelled him an opportunist – a charge which registers with focus groups, after Boris Johnson labelled Starmer “Captain Hindsight”, even though Starmer is no more opportunist than most senior politicians. And he claimed that his leadership campaign in the summer was more honest than Starmer’s in 2020 (probably true – but also the reason Sunak lost in the summer). These were all jibes that landed.

But, of course, Starmer had jibes of his own, and they were effective too. He taunted Sunak over his wife’s non-dom status, and over the revelation that he has private GP healthcare, and what made these more than just personal digs were the claims that he was able to make about how taxing non-doms would fund thousands more nurses. Sunak had a defence (he quoted Ed Balls saying taxing non-doms might not raise any revenue for the government at all), but people watching were more likely to side with Starmer on this than with Sunak. (At least, that is what our recent focus group report suggests.) Starmer’s point also refuted the claim from Sunak that Labour does not have a plan.

Ultimately Sunak was still on the defensive, because the government record he is defending is now so weak, but today Sunak v Starmer felt much more evenly matched than it was.

Updated at 07.53 EST

Chris Law (SNP) says Sunak said in the summer we live in a union, which functions by consent. The Scots have voted to back a referendum. So does Sunak accept Scottish democracy?

Sunak says he wants to work with the Scottish government on what matters to the Scots.

Allan Dorans (SNP) says the SNP have won eight recent elections. What right does the government have to deny a referendum?

Sunak says he respects the decision of the court.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks the government to introduce a mortgage protection fund, paid for by reversing tax cuts on the banks. That is a Lib Dem policy.

Sunak says he is sorry to hear about the constituent’s case mentioned by Davey. He says the government is tackling inflation, and has offered mortgage support for people on benefits.

Updated at 07.36 EST

Gareth Johnson (Con) says Just Stop Oil should be a proscribed organisation. These people are criminals, he says.

Sunak says the police have the government’s full support in dealing with these protests. The public order bill will give them the powers they need, he says.