Scottish government set to table motion calling for article 50 rejection

Nicola Sturgeon will ask Holyrood to vote on symbolic Brexit motion as talk once again turns to independence referendum

Nicola Sturgeon's government is preparing for a fresh constitutional battle over Brexit by tabling a motion calling on Holyrood to reject the UK government's article 50 bill.

Mike Russell, the Scottish government's Brexit minister, told MSPs the refusal by Theresa May's government in London to countenance Sturgeon's demands for a special Scottish deal was pushing the country closer to a second independence referendum.