A Scottish newspaper’s headline which appeared to ape a controversial Daily Mail front page following the High Court’s Brexit decision has proved too much even for some members of the SNP.
The National featured mocked up pictures of prime minister Theresa May, Brexit secretary David Davis and Advocate General Lord Keen QC, with the headline “Enemies of the Scottish people!”.
It added: “Forget the judges - it is unacceptable for the UK Government’s lawyer to argue that Scotland’s voice - and a significant part of the Scotland Act - is irrelevant.
The story concerned discussion in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where the government is currently challenging the court’s ruling that the PM must consult parliament before triggering Article 50.
The National said that Lord Keen, who is acting on behalf of the government, “told the court during the Article 50 case that the Scottish Government’s contention that the Holyrood Parliament needed to consent to Brexit ‘simply does not arise in this appeal’”.
The front page was strikingly similar to one published by the Daily Mail last month criticising the judges behind the High Court decision the government is currently appealing.
The Mail’s front page was slammed by many as “dangerous” and “irresponsible”.
And it seems the National’s own version was also too much for some to stomach, with even SNP MP Callum McCaig branding it “inappropriate”.
His tweet was retweeted by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
The front page also attracted ire elsewhere, including from its own members and other supporters of Scottish independence,
The front page also caught the attention of former justice secretary Michael Gove, who labelled the National the “worst newspaper in the world”:
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale is set to call for the UK to become a federal state in a “new Act of Union”, with Scotland taking control of a number of areas currently covered by EU law.
The Guardian reported that Dugdale is set to call on May to support a new “political settlement” in the wake of Brexit to prevent a split in the UK.
According to the BBC, she is expected to tell London’s Institute for Public Policy Research: “We are now faced with a Tory government in Westminster which looks set to force hard Brexit on the whole of the UK. And an SNP government at Holyrood which wants to exploit the divisions to win independence.
“This is the position that the majority of Scots - the moderate, pro-union Scots and also many former Yes voters - find themselves in.
“More than ever, we have two governing parties in Scotland that are out of step with what the majority of people in Scotland want. The Tories want Scotland in the UK and out of Europe, and the SNP want Scotland in the EU, but out of the UK.
“Continuing to pull our country in each of these directions risks breaking the union once and for all.”