Nicola Sturgeon has signalled the need for another Scottish independence referendum after Britain's Supreme Court ruled the devolved assembly in Edinburgh did not need to be consulted on triggering Brexit.

While the court ruled against Theresa May's Brexit plans and decreed that MPs were entitled to vote on whether to trigger Article 50, the justices unanimously ruled the Government did not need to consult with the devolved powers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“This raises fundamental issues above and beyond that of EU membership,” Ms Sturgeon said following the decision.

“Is Scotland content for our future to be dictated by an increasingly right-wing Westminster government with just one MP here, or is it better that we take our future into our own hands?

“It is becoming ever clearer that this is a choice that Scotland must make.”

Scottish voters rejected independence in 2014, but Ms Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) say the result of the EU referendum last June — which a majority of Scottish people voted against — demonstrates the need for another independence referendum.

The SNP leader described the British government’s claims of Scotland being an equal partner as “empty rhetoric” and the devolution settlement as “worthless”.

“The claims about Scotland being an equal partner are being exposed as nothing more than empty rhetoric and the very foundations of the devolution settlement that are supposed to protect our interests [...] are being shown to be worthless,” she added.

Ms Sturgeon said she would press the case for a compromise deal on Scottish access to the EU when she meets the Prime Minister for talks on Brexit at the joint ministerial committee for devolved and UK governments on Monday.

“It is now crystal clear that the promises made to Scotland by the UK government about the Sewel convention, and the importance of embedding it in statute, were not worth the paper they were written on,” she said.

Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters

“Although the court has concluded that the UK government is not legally obliged to consult the devolved administrations, there remains a clear political obligation to do so. Indeed, the court itself notes the importance of Sewel as a political convention.”

Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, Ms Sturgeon pledged that MSPs would be given the opportunity to vote on the triggering of Article 50 regardless of the outcome.