Westminster criticised over bid to seize control of referendum timing

The proposal, revealed last month by The Scotsman, would see the coalition government use a clause in the Scotland Act.

A Scotland Office spokesman said giving Holyrood the legal power to run an independence referendum was one potential option under discussion.

It could enable the pro-Union parties to put a limit on when the vote could be held and ensure the Electoral Commission has control over it.

The SNP branded the attempt to influence the timing of the poll the “height of absurdity”.

The Scotland Office confirmed the option was being looked at seriously in the House of Lords.

The transfer would be an attempt to end the wrangling over whether London or Edinburgh should hold the poll. Under current legislation, a referendum called by the Scottish Parliament would be merely “consultative”. Under the UK constitution, the power to hold a legal referendum lies with Westminster.

The pro-Union parties are also exploring the possibility of amending the Scotland Bill to pass the legal powers to Holyrood – an option that could allow the insertion of a sunset clause to create an early deadline for the referendum.

They are looking at engineering a handover that would enable them to ensure the Electoral Commission runs the vote.

The timing of the referendum and Mr Salmond’s assertion that it should not be run by the Electoral Commission are major bones of contention between the SNP and the Unionist parties.

The Scottish Government wants to call the vote in the second half of the parliamentary term. But the pro-Union parties want it to be held sooner – they say uncertainty about Scotland’s constitutional position is putting off potential investors.

Whitehall sources have confirmed they are discussing the possibility of using a provision in the devolution legislation, a Section 30 order, that allows for powers normally reserved to Westminster to be given to Holyrood.

Last night, a senior UK government source said: “These are the sort of things that are being discussed. It is a consideration, because the last thing we want is Alex Salmond setting up his own cowboy commission.”

Mr Salmond has said that he wants a Scottish Referendum Commission to supervise the independence vote. Unlike the Electoral Commission, which answers to Westminster, it would answer to Holyrood.

A Scotland Office spokesman said giving Holyrood the legal power to run an independence referendum was one potential option under discussion, adding: “The Scotland Bill will return to the Lords in January where these issues will be discussed in detail.It illustrates that the Scottish Government must end the considerable uncertainty the prospect of a referendum is causing by bringing forward its detailed plans as soon as possible.”

Lord Forsyth, a former Conservative Scottish secretary, said it was “irrelevant” which parliament organised the referendum.

“What matters is that we have a properly conducted campaign, that we have it properly supervised by the Electoral Commission, and that the result is binding, so that if people vote for independence that is exactly what will happen, and that we end this uncertainty which is so damaging to Scotland’s financial interests as soon as possible,” he said.

But Lord Forsyth’s remarks were ridiculed by the SNP. A party spokesman said: “It is the height of absurdity that unelected peers in the House of Lords should try to lay down the law about the timing of the democratic referendum we will have in Scotland.

“The more Lord Forsyth interferes, the worse it will get for the anti-independence parties.”

Mr Salmond said: “The Scottish Government won the right in this year’s Scottish election to hold the referendum in the second half of the parliament. Lord Forsyth lost the right to run Scotland in 1997, when he lost every single Tory seat in Scotland.”