THE Scottish Government has rubbished claims by a Tory MSP that Nicola Sturgeon violated the ministerial code in asking the Supreme Court if she could hold an independence referendum.
Craig Hoy called for an investigation to be carried out after Sturgeon wrote in her book Frankly that the Scottish Government’s reference to the Supreme Court on whether it could hold an independence referendum was “in all likelihood impossible” to succeed.
He claimed Sturgeon had committed a “clear violation” of the code in proceeding with the reference.
In his letter to Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, Joe Griffin, he highlighted two parts of the code in a bid to back up his argument, which state that ministers “must not use public resources for party political purposes” and should “ensure their decisions are informed by appropriate analysis of the legal considerations and that the legal implications of any course of action are considered at the earliest opportunity”.
But the Scottish Government has said the reference was “entirely appropriate”.
A spokesperson said: “The reference of this question to the Supreme Court was entirely appropriate and intended to achieve legal clarity over whether the Scottish Parliament had the legislative powers to hold an independence referendum, in light of majority support within the Parliament for a referendum. It did that.”
Griffin will respond to Hoy in due course, The National has been told.
Hoy shared his letter on social media claiming Sturgeon had “wasted taxpayers’ money on a doomed court case for party political reasons”.
👇👇👇My letter to the Permanent Secretary: Nicola Sturgeon wasted taxpayers’ money on a doomed court case for party political reasons. That’s a clear misuse of public funds and a clear breach of the ministerial code. She should repay the money from the proceeds of her book. pic.twitter.com/0Du3iAvihg
— Craig Hoy MSP (@CraigWHoy1) August 15, 2025
He went on: “That’s a clear misuse of public funds and a clear breach of the ministerial code. She should repay the money from the proceeds of her book.”
He said in his letter: “Could you as Permanent Secretary confirm whether you believe this spending complied with the requirements laid out in the code, given Ms Sturgeon’s recent comments?
“If not, will the Scottish Government be taking any action to recover public funds that were spent at the direction of Nicola Sturgeon for what were clearly party-political purposes?
“I hope you will thoroughly investigate the implications of Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir admission.”
Elsewhere in Frankly, Sturgeon predicted that the United Kingdom will “no longer exist” in 20 years’ time.
She wrote: “An independent Scotland, a more autonomous Wales and a reunified Ireland will join England, enjoying the benefits of the home rule it will gain as a result, in a new British Isles confederation of nations.”
Sturgeon has been under the spotlight all week following the release of her memoir, with gender reform, the breakdown of her relationship with Alex Salmond, and her record in government all coming under intense scrutiny.
In a conversation with Kirsty Wark at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Sturgeon denied Salmond had been guilty of “coercive control” over her, but she did detail how his approval “mattered to me” and his disapproval “knocked my confidence”.
“I think, latterly, he probably played on that a little bit, but that was something I realised was there through my psychologist,” she went on.
Sturgeon was also heavily quizzed about her leadership around gender reform.
Earlier this week, Sturgeon said she should have paused gender reform legislation that was going through the Scottish Parliament towards the end of her tenure.
The Gender Recognition Reform Bill would have allowed transgender people to self-identify and simplified the requirements to acquire a gender recognition certificate (GRC), before it was blocked by Westminster from becoming law.
She said during the interview that one of the reasons she may not have paused was to not "give in" to transphobic people.
During the interview, she also insisted the British monarchy “should end quite soon”.
She said following the death of the Queen – who she described as having a “mystique” around her that other royal family members don’t have – more people were starting to see the “absurdities” of the monarchy.
