At Westminster this week I lead a debate calling on the Lord Chancellor (England’s Justice Secretary) to uphold his oath to respect the rule of law. Call me old fashioned but if someone was questioning whether I had broken my oath of office I would turn up in person to defend myself. However, he didn’t and sent a junior Minister along instead who singularly failed to tackle any of the issues I raised.  

The lawyers left standing in the UK Government, such as they are, are cosily cocooned in denial. But, as the length of time it took to replace the Tories Scottish law officer shows, lawyers in Scotland, even those with Tory sympathies, were very reluctant to take the Queen’s shilling to defend this UK Governments’ track record. 

Its 20 years this week since Donald Dewar, Scotland’s first ever First Minister, died unexpectedly whilst still in office. As we mark the anniversary of his untimely death, is his devolution project fatally damaged? If so what, if anything, can be done about it? 

Dewar’s masterly scheme, that every power which was not specifically reserved to Westminster would be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, was reflected in the Scotland Act 1998, after a ringing endorsement from Scottish voters who voted by 3 to 1 to support reconvening Scotland’s parliament. 

A week is a long time in politics. 

Last week in my column I expressed concern that no dates had been announced for the SNP conference. Further concern was expressed in the National earlier this week when unnamed insiders (yes, I know we are all a bit sick of them) were quoted in a news article suggesting that there might not be a conference at all. 

Of course, that was nonsense because the terms of the party’s constitution require an annual conference with elections to the NEC. The constitution also mandates that conference is the supreme governing and policy making body of the party and holds the party’s office bearers to account. It would be out of the question for it not to happen particularly when all the other main parties have managed to arrange online conferences. Delegates who attend conference normally vote online in the NEC elections so there should be no difficulty there. 

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the UK Government’s defeat in the Supreme Court in the prorogation case.  Recent events suggest that for this Tory Government law breaking is habit forming. Lady Hale has had a crack at them again this week over the Internal Market Bill telling Times Radio that any judge must uphold the law whether domestic or international. 

At Westminster this week SNP MPs led the attacks on the Internal Market Bill. My Justice team took aim at the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney General for remaining in their posts despite the resignation of the Tories’ Scottish Law Officer, the Advocate General, who said that he found it ​increasingly difficult to reconcile his obligations as a Law Officer with the Government’s policy intentions.