NICOLA Sturgeon said the devolution settlement is now “worthless” as she said the Supreme Court Brexit decision made it clear Scotland must decide again on independence.

The First Minister welcomed the ruling that said the UK parliament must have a say on the negotiations to leave the European Union.

However she said the decision that the Devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government do not need to give consent meant that Scotland was not an equal partner.

She said it was “becoming ever clearer” that Scotland must decide on being ruled by Tories form Westminster or taking its own decisions.

The Supreme Court ruled that article 50 for the UK to apply to leave the EU cannot be triggered without an act of parliament at Westminster.

It is a defeat for Theresa May’ government who wanted to by-pass MPs and press ahead on its own.

The ruling however also said there was no legal obligation for the UK government to consult with Holyrood or the Welsh or Northern Irish assemblies on the triggering of Article 50.

Glasgow Times:

Ms Sturgeon said the issue was now wider than Brexit and went to the heart of the devolution settlement.

The First Minister said she would bring a Legislative Consent Motion to Holyrood for MSPs to vote on whether or not it would consent to leaving the EU, although the UK Government can ignore it.

She said: ““However, it is becoming clearer by the day that Scotland's voice is simply not being heard or listened to within the UK.

“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, such as the statutory embedding of the Sewel Convention, are being shown to be worthless.

“This raises fundamental issues above and beyond that of EU membership. 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.”