The Scottish National Party has warned Theresa May not to try to block Nicola Sturgeon's plans for a fresh referendum on Scottish independence before Britain finally leaves the EU.
The Scottish First Minister's bombshell announcement on Monday overshadowed the House of Lords vote which finally cleared the way for the prime minister to start the formal Brexit process.
The move drew a furious response from May who accused the SNP of "playing politics with the future of our country" with a vote that would only create "more uncertainty and division".
Her comments were seen as an indication that she will not allow the referendum to go ahead until after the Brexit process is complete - which is expected to be in the spring of 2019.
However SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson dismissed the idea that the government at Westminster could seek to block a second independence vote.
"I just cannot see how a democratically elected UK government will say to a democratically elected Scottish government which was elected on a mandate to hold a referendum .... one's not going to allow a vote," he said.
Setting out her proposal on Monday, Sturgeon said that if Scotland was to have a "real choice" the vote should take place once the terms of the Brexit deal were known but "before it is too late to choose our own course".
She will go to the Scottish Parliament next week to seek its authority to agree a "Section 30 order" - the procedure which allows it to legislate for an independence referendum - with the UK government with a view to staging a vote between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
The row erupted as the landmark legislation, which allows the prime minister to trigger the start of the Article 50 withdrawal process, completed its passage through parliament without amendment.
Brexit Secretary David Davis hailed the outcome, saying the UK was "on the threshold of the most important negotiation for our country in a generation".
However Downing Street has indicated that the prime minister will not seek to invoke Article 50 until the end of the month, despite the EU (Notification Of Withdrawal) Bill completing its passage through Parliament.
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