Scottish National Party (SNP) attempts to give the Scottish Parliament the ability to hold a referendum have been rejected by MPs.
The Commons rejected the SNP’s plans to introduce a new Bill to allow Scotland to decide on independence by 265 to 42, majority 223.
The plans would have seen the opposition party take over House of Commons business on 10 January next year, and present its new Scotland Act 1998 (Amendment) Bill in order to give Holyrood the power to legislate over Scotland’s future in the United Kingdom.
SNP constitutional affairs spokesman Tommy Sheppard claimed the idea that the UK is a voluntary union is “dead in the water” following the Supreme Court judgment on the Scottish Government’s plans to hold a second independence referendum.
Last month, the court ruled the Scottish Parliament cannot hold such a referendum without Westminster approval.
But the plans were criticised by both Labour and the Tories, with shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray suggesting the debate felt like the 1993 comedy film Groundhog Day, as the Commons relived the same debate “over and over again”.
Sheppard told the Commons: “The polity that we live in in the United Kingdom is a multi-national state, made up (of) and based upon serial acts of union that have given it quite a unique character and it is something which up until very recently we had assumed required the consent of the people in the component nations of the United Kingdom to be part of.
“We now have a situation following the Supreme Court judgment where it seems that that is not the case, that it is not possible for one group of people in one nation of the United Kingdom to consider reviewing the relationship with the others without their consent.
“That means that the idea of it being a voluntary union of nations in dead in the water until such times as the law is clarified or fixed.”
He claimed the SNP motion was “an attempt to clarify and fix the British constitution” and it would “allow the Scottish Parliament the power and competence to be able to do the things that the Supreme Court ruled it could not do, and which everyone thought previously it was able to do”.
Sheppard sought to justify the debate topic as being “absolutely about the real issues that are facing families in this country right here, right now”.
While he said he was pleased nurses in Scotland were not going on strike due to a negotiated pay deal, Sheppard said the SNP wanted the power to “build a 21st century health service based on the wellbeing of our people rather than fixing ill health”, adding: “To do that, we require the powers of a normal, independent country.”
But the UK Government claimed the Scottish people do not see another referendum as a priority.
Scotland Minister John Lamont told the Commons: “There is no consensus across Scotland about another referendum and all the division and distraction that that would bring.
“We already know the process by which a constitutional question can be asked because it happened back in 2014, we had a referendum and the people of Scotland decided our future by an overwhelming majority.
“It happened after there was a consensus across political parties in the Scottish Parliament, in Civic Society and among people across Scotland.
“But that is not where we are today.”
The SNP’s plans also faced harsh criticism from Labour, as shadow Scotland secretary Murray branded the SNP’s record in government “utterly deplorable”.
He added: “I would say what a pleasure it is to be involved in this debate today, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. Yet again, when the SNP get precious time to use on any issue they wish they choose this one again.
“It’s like the famous film Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray relives the same day over and over again, but in this place, we relive the same debate over and over again. Every single time they choose the same debate topic.”
Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
