Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has said she would support a legal challenge in the supreme court if the Scottish parliament voted for its own powers over Brexit.

The Guardian reported it was highly likely that the UK’s law officers would ask the supreme court to strike down an emergency bill which Holyrood voted on Thursday to rush through to protect its powers after Brexit.

Asked about that report, Davidson told BBC Radio Scotland on Friday that she believed legal action would be needed to test the “very complex, finely balanced legal situation” in court.

“I think that we have to,” she told Good Morning Scotland. “I think lawmakers like politicians have a duty to respect the law and I think that if this is in contravention of that then, absolutely, it is incumbent upon us to test that.”

The measures in the “continuity bill” are designed to sidestep Westminster by giving Holyrood direct control over the repatriation of up to 111 EU powers over areas such as agriculture, fisheries, environmental protection, cross-border crime and food safety, into Scottish law.

The Welsh assembly will consider similar legislation next week, in a bid to intensify pressure on the UK government to make fresh concessions over the devolved parliaments’ powers after Brexit.

Legal and political sources told the Guardian they expected Richard Keen QC, the advocate general for Scotland and the UK government’s Scottish law officer, to challenge the Holyrood bill if it is passed.

The Welsh measures are likely to be challenged by Jeremy Wright QC, the attorney general for England and Wales, if they are passed. The UK government insists Westminster must have supreme authority over the UK’s legal and constitutional arrangements.



Scottish and Welsh ministers insist their rival legislation will only be needed if they fail to agree a deal, and ministers from all three governments are expected to meet for further urgent talks next week.

However, the Welsh government is believed to be much closer than the Scottish to agreeing a deal with the UK government, reducing greatly the chances of a constitutional battle with Wales, which voted narrowly to leave the EU.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has insisted she too wants an agreement but is much less willing to concede ground, because Scotland voted heavily to remain and her Scottish National party government still believes Brexit could justify a second independence referendum.

This legal dispute intensified after Ken Macintosh, the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament, ruled earlier this week that Holyrood did not have the legal power to implement the Scottish government’s bill.

Scotland’s lord advocate, James Wolffe QC, has told ministers in Edinburgh that they do have those legal powers. Elin Jones, the presiding officer of the Welsh assembly, has also contradicted Macintosh by saying the Welsh bill is legally competent.

A Scottish government source would not comment directly on the legal threat, but said: “We are absolutely confident that the bill as presented is within the competence of the parliament as the lord advocate has attested. MSPs will have the opportunity to debate the bill in coming weeks.”

The Welsh and Scottish parliaments accuse the UK government of trying to unjustifiably centralise control over up to 25 key powers that are under devolved control while the UK is part of the EU.

UK ministers dispute that, saying they only wish to temporarily oversee these powers until all three governments can agree on joint UK-wide frameworks to ensure consistent and compatible policies.

This deal also affects Northern Ireland, but as Stormont’s power-sharing executive is suspended, these decisions are being taken by the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, Karen Bradley.