Bizarre standoff over EU report response
A BIZARRE row over the Tory Government’s response to Nicola Sturgeon’s proposals to keep Scotland in the EU single market rumbled on yesterday.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell claimed in the Commons last week that the Scottish Government had asked the UK Government not to publish the response – despite repeated calls from Scottish ministers that they should do just that.
The Department of Exiting the European Union failed to offer any evidence but stuck to the line even after a spokesman for SNP Brexit Minister Michael Russell said: “We are not asking for this to remain private – it is the UK Government’s policy position, not ours, and as such they should publish it without any further delay.”
When asked to explain their position, a UK Government spokesman said: “We’ve been engaging closely with the devolved administrations and examining their proposals through the joint ministerial committee process and on an official level.
“We have respected the Scottish Government’s wish for this correspondence to remain private.”
Sturgeon published her Scotland’s Place in Europe report four months ago.
Theresa May said she’d look at it “very seriously” but has rejected calls for any separate Scottish deal.