Scotland’s chief civil servant has been urged to seek ministerial direction on whether the Scottish Government can continue to spend public funds on independence referendum plans.

It follows the Supreme Court ruling that the Scottish Parliament cannot legally call a referendum without Westminster approval.

Donald Cameron, constitution spokesman for the Scottish Tories, has written to John-Paul Marks, permanent secretary to the Scottish Government, to assess whether the forecasted spend of £20 million on referendum preparation is “lawful”.

He accused the Scottish Government of using public funds for “party propaganda”.

Figures obtained by the Tories on Sunday revealed more than £1.5 million of taxpayer cash would be spent on civil servant salaries who are tasked to work on the independence brief.

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