President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reed, stated in the order: “Since the issues of (a) whether the Court should accept the reference and (b) how the Court should answer the question referred will both require consideration of the circumstances giving rise to the reference and the substance of the question referred, it is in the interests of justice and the efficient disposal of the proceedings that the Court should hear argument on both issues at a single hearing.”

A UK government spokesman said yesterday: “We appreciate the Supreme Court dealing with our application quickly. We will proceed to prepare our written case on the preliminary points we have noted, and on the substantive issue, to the timetable set out by the court.

“On the question of legislative competence, the UK government’s clear view remains that a bill legislating for a referendum on independence would be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.”

The court has not yet confirmed when the case will be heard.