Supreme Court ruling raises 'fundamental issues' for Scotland, says Nicola Sturgeon

While the Supreme Court decided Theresa May must give MPs a vote before triggering Article 50, the 11 judges unanimously ruled this does not need to happen in the devolved assemblies in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

Read more: UK Government loses Supreme Court appeal over Brexit

But Ms Sturgeon said there was still a "clear political obligation to do so".

The SNP leader will press ahead with plans to hold a vote in Holyrood on triggering Article 50 - saying the Scottish Government would bring forward a legislative consent motion.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The claims about Scotland being an equal partner are being exposed as nothing more than empty rhetoric and the very foundations of the devolution settlement that are supposed to protect our interests - such as the statutory embedding of the Sewel Convention - are being shown to be worthless.

"This raises fundamental issues above and beyond that of EU membership.

"Is Scotland content for our future to be dictated by an increasingly right-wing Westminster government with just one MP here - or is it better that we take our future into our own hands?

"It is becoming ever clearer that this is a choice that Scotland must make."

Read more: UK Government loses Supreme Court appeal over Brexit

With Scotland having voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, the First Minister has already warned Mrs May's plans to take the UK out of the single market ''undoubtedly'' makes a second referendum on Scottish independence more likely.

The First Minister said: "It is now crystal clear that the promises made to Scotland by the UK Government about the Sewel Convention and the importance of embedding it in statute were not worth the paper they were written on."

The Scotland Act of 2016 enshrined in legislation the Sewel Convention, which states Westminster will normally only legislate on devolved matters with the express agreement of MSPs.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell dismissed the First Minister's comments, saying "Scotland's voice is being heard clearly throughout the whole process".

Mr Mundell said: "We want the SNP to take the uncertainty of a second referendum off the table and come together with us as we move forward - because that is how we will get the best possible deal for Scotland and the whole of the UK as we leave the EU."

​Read more: UK Government loses Supreme Court appeal over Brexit

The Tory, who is the sole Conservative MP in Scotland, stated: "As the Supreme Court ruled today, the UK Government is not legally compelled to consult the devolved administrations before triggering Article 50.

"No part of the UK has a veto on the UK leaving the EU, something the First Minister of Scotland has herself accepted in the last few months."

He added that "Scotland's voice is being heard", with 59 MPs from north of the border at Westminster, and the Scottish Government and other devolved administrations involved with the UK Government through the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) - which is due to meet again next week.

He also highlighted the UK Government's "close working with the Scottish Government and the sustained engagement we have had across Scotland since the vote to leave the EU".

Ms Sturgeon has vowed to use the next JMC meeting to push for the "sensible, compromise outcomes" the Scottish Government has set out to try to keep the country in the single market.

Meanwhile, the SNP at Westminster has said it will submit 50 amendments to the Article 50 legislation when the Conservatives bring it forward.

These will include an amendment aimed at ensuring the JMC needs to be in unanimous agreement before the Government can trigger Article 50, with the SNP saying this will ensure "respect" for the devolved administrations.