Tories pushing for a hard Brexit are putting devolution in Scotland at risk, the country’s Deputy First Minister has warned.
John Swinney claimed that key legislation necessary for Britain to leave the European Union “undermines the principles of devolution and the powers of the Scottish Parliament that the people of Scotland campaigned so long to win”.
The Scottish Government’s repeated insistence that the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is a “power grab” comes as Theresa May was accused of being “too weak” to face down hardline Brexiteers in her party after more than 60 Conservative MPs set out their demands for the next stage of exit talks.
UK Brexit Secretary David Davis will meet senior figures from the devolved administrations in London on Thursday in a bid to resolve the deadlock between Holyrood and Westminster.
With discussions taking place Mr Swinney said the “next few weeks are likely to be as important for Scotland’s future as any in our recent history”.
The Scottish Government has already produced a report claiming a hard Brexit, with Britain leaving the EU without a trade deal, could cost Scotland’s economy £12.7 billion a year by 2030.
Writing in the Daily Record newspaper, Mr Swinney said: “Despite the overwhelming vote in Scotland for Remain, the Tories are pursuing a hard Brexit no matter the cost to jobs and living standards.
“Brexit poses a threat not just to our economy – it is now a threat to the hard-won devolution settlement which people in Scotland voted for so decisively in 1997.”
Scottish Brexit Minister Mike Russell, who will represent the Scottish Government in the talks on Thursday, said on Twitter that a deal could still be done, but only if the UK Government wanted to.
He said: “A deal can only be done in London tomorrow if @GOVUK wants to agree on frameworks rather then impose them. Westminster proposals aim to take away Scotland’s say on most important issues.”
The Scottish and Welsh administrations have repeatedly warned that clause 11 of the EU Withdrawal Bill is a “power grab”, as it transfers devolved powers currently held by the EU to Westminster in the first instance – something the Conservative Government insists is necessary to allow common frameworks to be set up across the UK.
With UK ministers having so far failed to bring forward amendments to the legislation, Mr Swinney said it “remains a powers grab in critical areas at the heart of the devolution settlement”.
SNP ministers at Holyrood are “simply seeking to protect the devolution settlement and to ensure the Scottish Parliament has the powers in full that the people of Scotland voted for”, he added.
“We will never recommend giving consent to a Bill that undermines the principles of devolution and the powers of the Scottish Parliament that the people of Scotland campaigned for so long to win.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel