MICHAEL Russell is set to brief peers on the Scottish Government’s concerns about Theresa May’s Brexit Bill just 24 hours before the House of Lords begins its deliberations on the flagship legislation.
The SNP administration’s Brexit Minister, alongside Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Government’s Finance Secretary, is due to address Labour peers on the “devolution aspects” of the EU Withdrawal Bill.
Other speakers will include the Liberal Democrats’ Lord Wallace, the former Deputy First Minister, and Sir Emyr Jones Parry, the former diplomat and Foreign Office mandarin, who chairs the All Wales Convention on increasing the Welsh Assembly’s powers.
On Thursday, the Inter-parliamentary Panel on Europe, attended by committee chairmen from Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff Bay, met in the Lords to hear concerns about how the Brexit bill could impact on the devolved settlements in Scotland and Wales. Both governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff believe it is a “power-grab” by Whitehall and undermines devolution; a charge denied by the UK ministers.
Much anger has been expressed by all parties, including the Scottish Tories, about the way the process has been handled; most notably about how UK ministers failed to honour their promise to amend the Bill in the Commons. It will now be amended in the Lords but this means MPs will have no input into the debate.
However, while “huge progress” is claimed to have been made by both governments’ officials on finding the right wording for the amendments, drawn up to allay fears about undermining devolution, it has been suggested the Scottish Government has still not seen the wording of the proposed changes.
The SNP’s Bruce Crawford, who convenes Holyrood’s Finance and Constitution Committee, has called on the Prime Minister and her colleagues to act urgently, warning that time was running out to avoid a major constitutional crisis.
It has been suggested that if Holyrood does not give its consent to the legislation, then peers could attempt to block the bill.
Westminster sources suggested the Scottish Government has the UK Government in a corner. One said: “How can the UK Government try to amend the bill if does not have Holyrood’s consent? There would be no point as it would be defeated. It’s a complete mess.”
The Second Reading in the Lords is due to begin on Tuesday January 30. No amendments are taken at this stage and because of a two-week recess in February, the committee stage, when amendments are put down, is unlikely to take place until the end of that month or the beginning of the next. So Whitehall officials and ministers will still have a month or so to get Holyrood on board.
Meanwhile, the Lords Constitution Committee is expected to publish a report on the Withdrawal Bill the week after next.
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