Why we need grand plan for Brexit
A SENIOR MSP today calls for the setting up of an unprecedented cross-parliament committee to tackle the constitutional crisis sparked by Brexit.
Former Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson believes MPs, MSPs and members of the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies should come together to scrutinise the legislation needed for leaving the EU.
He is calling for Prime Minister Theresa May to establish a multi-parliament “grand committee” to examine the details before each individual parliament is asked to vote on it.
The innovative suggestion came after the Scottish and Welsh governments both warned they would recommend voting against the Brexit bill in its current form over concerns it will strip powers from the devolved administrations.
The Northern Irish Assembly is currently suspended because the DUP and Sinn Fein have been unable to reach an agreement on sharing power.
Scotland’s Brexit Minister Mike Russell has said the legislation “fatally undermines” the powers of the Scottish Parliament and consent for the proposed EU withdrawal would be withheld by MSPs.
Stevenson said: “Ms May and her Westminster Government will be responsible for putting legislation on the table which will fundamentally change the future of the UK.
“As in Holyrood, hard graft of detailed examination and amendment will take place in a parliamentary committee.
“The UK Government are going to have to account for and explain their policy decisions with the backing of all the political parties. Now is the time to involve the devolved nations of the UK even further and I am calling for a crossparliaments committee, essentially an EU Legislation Grand Committee – to take the Bill and related Bills, forward.
“How can Westminster ask for the full support of the devolved nations for a complex act which other parliaments have played no part in?
“We are currently faced with no real understanding of what type of Brexit we will face and the challenge is now for democracy to keep evolving or this whole process is going to fail.”
The Brexit bill will repatriate all powers sitting at Brussels to Westminster.
But the SNP object to this approach and insist powers in devolved areas should be returned to Holyrood.
The Scottish Parliament has never previously withheld consent over such a measure, although the Supreme Court has ruled Holyrood does not have the power of veto.
UK Ministers have previously said the EU Withdrawal Bill will be a “powers bonanza” for the Scottish Parliament.
They insisted that the withdrawal bill is more of a technical mechanism to ensure that the logistics of Brexit and the mass transfer of powers from Brussels to the UK can be undertaken when Brexit formally happens in March 2019.
A UK Government spokeswoman last night appeared to dismiss the idea. She said: “This Bill will be scrutinised by MPs from all parts of the UK. We are committed to securing a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom – for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England.”