Legal experts have clashed over whether or not an SNP Holyrood majority would open the door for a lawful independence referendum.
First minister John Swinney praised the "absolutely fabulous legal advice" of Ann Faulds, a planning lawyer who has represented President Trump, who spoke at the SNP party conference on Saturday.
She said, The Times reports, it would be "legally unreasonable" for the UK government to block a referendum if the SNP secured at least 65 seats in the May election, insisting there would be strong grounds to overturn any refusal in a judicial review.
However, Kenneth Armstrong, a former professor of European law at the University of Cambridge, who has advised Holyrood on constitutional matters, told The Times: “There is no legal precedent. You could say there is a political precedent, but that was simply a choice that David Cameron made [to grant a referendum].
"There is no way to go before a court to compel a referendum on the basis of elections next May.
“John Swinney is in a difficult position because you want to be able to offer something to the party, to say this is still on the cards and there are other routes and mechanisms available. But following the very clear, unanimous Supreme Court ruling in 2022, there really isn’t.”
Read the full story on The Times website.