Holyrood Voted 84 to 18 That Scotland Has the Right to Decide Its Own Future

The Scottish Parliament passed a motion on Tuesday declaring that Scotland has the right to decide its own future, by 84 votes to 18 with no abstentions.

The motion stood in the name of First Minister John Swinney and read, before amendment, “That the Parliament agrees that Scotland is a nation that has a right to decide its own future.” Opening the debate, Swinney said it was “vital for us to debate the question of the right of the people of Scotland to decide the future of their country,” and that the principle “is fundamental to how we see Scotland and to what Scotland is.”

Scottish Labour voted for it. A Labour amendment from Michael Marra, adding child poverty as a shared priority and recommitting the parliament to the target in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017, passed 91 to 12. A Scottish Green amendment recording that the 2026 election “returned the biggest ever majority of pro-independence MSPs” passed 85 to 12, with 6 abstentions. A Conservative amendment from Russell Findlay was rejected 12 to 85. A further amendment fell 35 to 68.

Reform’s MSPs left. Their Scottish leader, Malcolm Offord, said his party would “not engage further in these pointless proceedings” and told the chamber “we will exit the chamber,” withdrawing the party’s own amendment before walking out. The Presiding Officer answered from the chair. “I therefore consider this afternoon’s antics to be a gross discourtesy to all members,” he said.

The vote changes no law. A referendum on leaving the United Kingdom still requires Westminster’s agreement, which is the constraint every Scottish government has run into since 2014, and the one the Supreme Court confirmed when it ruled that Holyrood could not legislate for a vote on its own.

What shifted this month was the answer from London. Two weeks ago the Prime Minister told the Commons that he was not aware of majority public support for another referendum, and that until that changed there would not be one, which Swinney read as an acceptance that the question turns on what Scots want rather than on whether Westminster is willing. Swinney called that a significant shift in the debate on Tuesday. On Friday, Burnham told STV News that Scots “have that right” to another vote, but that “the future was determined, I would say, for a generation” in 2014, and that he saw “no clear consensus” for a second referendum.

Westminster still holds the power to grant the vote. As of Tuesday afternoon, the parliament the Scots elect has said by 84 to 18 that the right to decide does not belong there.

Photo: the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament. Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0.