This Week's UK Government News

Below is this week's round-up of activity from the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland and UK Government.

Scottish Secretary on Eurovision?

The BBC confirmed the outcome of the first stage of the Host City bidding process for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in the United Kingdom in 2023. Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield go through to the next stage of the Host City process.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:?

"It’s a great privilege for the UK to honour Ukraine by hosting Eurovision 2023. I'm backing Glasgow all the way to bring the contest to Scotland."

Read more here

Scottish Secretary on Commonwealth Games

As the Birmingham Commonwealth Games draw to a close, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack says the games have been a resounding success for?Team Scotland.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

"I was lucky enough to see some of the action live last week, where cheering on Team Scotland was a highlight of my summer. With a total of 51 medals, including 13 golds, the games have undoubtedly been a roaring success for the team."

Read the full statement here

UK Government Papers Submitted to the Supreme Court

The Advocate General for Scotland has?published?the written papers he has submitted to the Supreme Court, in relation to the reference by the Lord Advocate under paragraph 34 of schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998. The?initial papers?were submitted on 12 July 2022 and the?full papers?on 9 August 2022.

A UK Government spokesperson said:

“People across Scotland want both their governments to be working together on the issues that matter to them and their families, not talking about another independence referendum.

We have today [10 August] published the papers we have submitted to the Supreme Court, and will set out our case at the hearing in October.

“On the question of legislative competence, the UK Government’s clear view remains that a Bill legislating for a referendum on independence would be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.”

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