SCOTLAND'S Brexit minister has insisted there will be no compromise with the UK Government in the row over devolved powers without changes being made to the "profoundly anti-democratic" EU Withdrawal Bill.
Mike Russell insisted that the legislation – which has already been rejected by Holyrood – "undermines the whole of the constitutional settlement".
Ministers in Edinburgh and London have been unable to break the deadlock between the two governments over the Bill, which many politicians insist is a "power grab".
Speaking at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, Russell warned: "We're heading to a situation where no matter how Scotland votes it's the Tories who get to decide."
While he said the Scottish Government had attempted to find a middle ground in talks with Theresa May's administration, he told the conference all those efforts had been rebuffed. And he insisted: "There are some things you can't compromise on and some people you can't compromise with. We can't compromise if irreversible damage is to be done to Scotland and everyone who lives here. We can't compromise if the outcome would be damage to our country and its democracy. And we can compromise with those who don't care about our future, who are only moving backwards into an imaginary past."
He insisted: "The Scottish Government will continue to defend Scotland's Parliament. Not because it is the best it could be, because it is the best we presently have and it is only by having that we can make it better."
Last month, Holyrood voted against giving formal consent to the Withdrawal Bill – with Labour, Lib Dem and Green MSPs voting with the SNP on the issue. While the move will not prevent the UK Government from bringing in the legislation, it could spark a constitutional crisis if the Bill has to be imposed against the wishes of the Scottish Parliament.
Russell said since then the approach of the Tory administration had been to "refuse to acknowledge concerns and talk to the parties at the Scottish Parliament".
He also said he believed a Brexit deal could be won which would see the UK remain in both the single market and the customs union. He told the conference: "We will always articulate what we believe is best for Scotland and in this case that is continuing membership of the EU – that is what Scotland voted for in 2016 and what I am sure it would vote for again if there were another referendum. But if we can't achieve that in the short term, then the only possible alternative, the least bad alternative, is continuing membership of the single market and the customs union. That can be campaigned for and won."
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