Battle lines drawn over Scotland's futurepublished at 10:35 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

10:35 BST 9 May 2021

Andrew Kerr
Scottish political correspondent

The debate is starting already on Scotland's constitutional future.

Michael Gove was on the Marr show, saying now is not the time for an independence referendum.

He wants to put recovery first, saying that people in Scotland are more focused on the state of the health service and education.

He says there is a significant difference this time when it comes to accepting the need for a referendum

Mr Gove adds that there is the pandemic and the recovery, and the SNP did not gain a majority like it did in 2011.

Nicola Sturgeon tells the Marr show there is a fundamental issue of democracy here.

She says she won a landslide election victory and adds that if there is continued refusal from the UK government to have a second independence referendum it shows a lack of respect.

Nicola Sturgeon says "of course" she will attend any summit organised by the PM about how to rebuild from coronavirus.

There are reports that Boris Johnson will call the devolved leaders later today.

Sturgeon says she will work with anyone in the interests of Covid recovery but Scotland's decisions long term are not dependent on what Boris Johnson does.

She wouldn't be drawn on a date for when people in Scotland can hug each other again but said she will have a meeting with officials on Tuesday to work out the next steps.

Nicola Sturgeon says she will make a judgement on the timing of any future independence referendum based on the pandemic this year and says she "wouldn't rule out" legislation landing in the Scottish Parliament at the beginning of next year.

Her first task is to steer Scotland through the pandemic and then to focus on the kind of country Scotland wants to rebuild, she says.

The case for independence will be set out openly and clearly to people before a referendum so an informed judgement can be made, she says.

"I'm not saying it would be challenge-free, but it is absolutely the right thing for Scotland," Ms Sturgeon adds.

The SNP's fourth consecutive Holyrood election victory dominates the front pages of Scotland's newspapers.

Nicola Sturgeon is asked what would happen if the SNP did not win a court case for another referendum.

She says this would be "unprecedented territory", with the UK government refusing to accept Scottish democracy.

The first minister adds she doesn't believe this will happen - but if it gets to that point, Scotland will be in a situation where it is being told it has not got "a democratic route to a referendum".

"The implications of that would be very grave," she adds.

She says this is a "fundamental issue of democracy" as there is a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the SNP won a "landslide" election but they were not looking for a referendum "right now" during the pandemic.

She says it would be "absurd" if things ever got close to the point of taking the SNP to court because that would mean the Conservatives were refusing to accept the democratic wishes of the Scottish people.

Her party has not taken legal advice about holding a referendum and the time to have one was not now while the country was in the middle of the pandemic, she adds.

The SNP's Neil Gray, who has just been re-elected to the Scottish Parliament, says his party's priority is going to be the pandemic response but then it will be asking Boris Johnson to "respect democracy" and allow another referendum on independence.

The SNP fell one seat short of an overall majority, but with eight Scottish Greens the final result still leaves Holyrood with a pro-independence majority. However, the prime minister has said another referendum would be "irresponsible and reckless".

Gray tells BBC Breakfast the SNP don't want to see the issue challenged in court and the "preferred route" would be for the UK government to "accept the democratic outcome of the Scottish elections".

He rejects the idea an independent Scotland could not have matched the UK government's response to Covid, arguing it could also have borrowed to fund a furlough scheme and could have run a successful vaccination programme.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove is also on Marr and is asked whether the UK government will take the matter to court if the Scottish Parliament passes legislation for another referendum on independence.

He replies "no", calling for all leaders to acknowledge that the priority should not be court cases or legislation but recovery from the pandemic.

"To be fair to Nicola Sturgeon, she said that was the single most important thing that we should all be working on," he says.

“We should work together as Team UK” on the Covid recovery, Mr Gove adds.

What do the results mean for Scottish independence?published at 09:56 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

09:56 BST 9 May 2021

Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

There is one thing that Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson can agree on. That now isn't the time to have another vote on a Scottish referendum.

That is just about where agreement between arguably the two most dominant political figures in the country right now begins and ends.

Beyond that, the first minister is determined before too long to push for a vote. The prime minister is set on saying "no".

There is one thing they have in common too. They are both vote winners for their parties with big personal followings, who are defying political tradition, refreshing their parties' mandates to govern after over a decade in power.

But if the dispute between them over the future of the UK is ever to be resolved, only one of these winners can come out on top.

Read more from Laura.

Labour's leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, has been on the Andrew Marr programme.

His party lost two seats in Scotland, ending with 22.

Mr Sarwar says the party is on a "journey back to being a credible alternative".

He says immense progress has been made in the 10 weeks since he became leader and Labour is "back on the pitch again" in Scotland.

He urges colleagues across the UK to learn the "difficult lessons" of Scotland's experience and not to pull each other apart after a bad result.

Mr Sarwar calls for Labour to win on the politics of hope and unity.

The final results in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election came through just before 9pm last night.

The SNP finished on 64 seats - one short of a majority but one more than it won in 2016.

The Conservatives won 31 seats, Labour 22, the Scottish Greens eight and Liberal Democrats four.