holyrood will now pass a referendum bill and ms sturgeon warned of the consequences of trying to block the courts. i think it would be absurd and completely outrageous if it ever got to that point, if it ever got anywhere close to that point. but the uk government does want to stop another referendum anytime soon. ministers won't give political consent to one and they don't want to talk about legal battles for now. the priority at the moment is not court cases, it is not independence legislation, it is recovery from the pandemic. and to be fair to the first minister, to be fair to nicola sturgeon, during the course of this election campaign, she said that was the single most important thing that we should all be concentrating on. and we should work together as team uk in order to deal with the pandemic. is scotland allowed to leave the uk? of course it is. it is? yes. how? well, through a legal referendum which would allow people to make that choice. the question is if and how that could ever happen. a question which downing street is none too keen to answer. but ministers in london wi

ms sturgeon still has to work out answers to some pretty big questions over the border with england if the new currency, over what the economic picture might look like after the pandemic. and with gordon brown's comments this morning, we are seeing a bit of a clash between the unionist side... borisjohnson wants to pour money into scotland over the next few years, to talk about the uk government's role here, and gordon brown saying that muscular unionism willjust not brown saying that muscular unionism will just not work. brown saying that muscular unionism willjust not work. and you need to come up with a new constitutional settlement if you're going to solve this short of independence. so there is a big clash coming, but it is in the medium term.— is a big clash coming, but it is in the medium term. borisjohnson is being investigated by the mps' standards watchdog over the funding of his caribbean holiday with his partner carrie symonds in late 2019. commons standards commissioner kathryn stone has confirmed she is looking into whether the prime minister correctly declared how the tr

ms sturgeon vowed to push ahead with her plans for a second independence referendum after the covid crisiss over and said the westminster government has "no democraticjustification" to block it. our scotland editor sarah smith reports. across scotland, victoria's snp candidates are celebrating increasing their vote and winning a remarkable fourth term in government. kaukab stewart became the first woman of colour elected to the first woman of colour elected to the scottish parliament.— the scottish parliament. while they ma be the the scottish parliament. while they may be the first, _ the scottish parliament. while they may be the first, they _ the scottish parliament. while they may be the first, they will- the scottish parliament. while they may be the first, they will not - the scottish parliament. while they may be the first, they will not be i may be the first, they will not be the last. �* . the last. and with a pro-independence l the last. and with a - pro-independence majority in the last. and with a _ pro-independence majority in that pro—independence majority in that parliament,

some of the shine off the snp and trying to take it towards their party, so absolutely, i suspect ms sturgeonates are particularly difficult for her. but everybody has a job to do tonight, and it's notjust about getting those core messages over. it's about enthusing your party, so nicola sturgeon has to get independence supporters and others to come out and vote for her on thursday, labour have to persuade people to vote for them on the reading list, for the greens and the lib dems this really matters to them for getting their message across. nick, thank you. debate is about to start in the next couple of minutes on bbc news, it's time tojoin start in the next couple of minutes on bbc news, it's time to join the scotland leaders debate from edinburgh. two days until the polling stations open, two days to make up your mind in an election where there is still a great deal to play for, and tonight the final debate between the leaders of the five largest parties at holyrood, what do they need to do to get your vote? with me tonight, nicola sturgeon, leader of the scottish national party, and firs