There’s no power grab and no crisis, insists Lord Sewel
ONE of the key architects of devolution yesterday dismissed Nicola Sturgeon’s claims of a Westminster ‘power grab’ after Brexit.
Lord Sewel intervened in the growing row between the UK and Scottish Governments – revealing he backs Theresa May over amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill.
He accused the SNP of attempting to ‘seek political advantage’ as he said the Prime Minister must have the right to move forward with the Brexit legislation – even without Holyrood’s consent.
Under the Sewel convention, Westminster does not normally legislate on devolved matters without the approval of the Scottish parliament. However, after MSPs voted against consent for the EU Withdrawal Bill, the UK Government announced it would move ahead regardless – with Miss Sturgeon claiming the convention had been ‘ripped up’.
But Lord Sewel hit out at the First Minister’s claims, insisting the ‘size and scale’ of Brexit means Westminster must be able to act ‘on initiative’. He also said that the situation was ‘not a constitutional crisis’, suggesting that some were using the row for political reasons.
Lord Sewel added: ‘There is that “not normally” phrase in the convention which does, I think, clearly recognise the possibility that something quite out of the ordinary would hap- pen, which would mean the UK Parliament would be required to legislate on a devolved matter even without the permission of the Scottish parliament.
‘I think we’re all pretty well agreed that Brexit and leaving the EU is a major constitutional adjustment. We don’t live in normal times, in other words.
‘Both sides can have an argument on this. But I would fall back on the one that the size and the scale of the change that’s envisaged and being brought about because of Brexit does put it in a class of its own and requires the possibility the UK Government would act on its own initiative, without necessarily the approval of the Scottish Government.’
Lord Sewel went on to say that he did not think the UK Government’s move could ‘fairly be described as a power grab’ as the Scotland Act states ‘quite explicitly that it doesn’t affect the power of the UK Parliament to make laws for Scotland’.
But Holyrood Brexit minister Mike Russell dismissed the comments made by Lord Sewel, saying: ‘What a surprise.’
A UK Government spokesman said: ‘The EU Withdrawal Bill is about ensuring the whole of the United Kingdom has a functioning statute book on exit day.
‘As Lord Sewel has confirmed, the UK Government is proceeding entirely in line with the devolution settlement.’
‘We don’t live in normal times’
IN THE end, the clue was in the name – the Sewel convention is not a legal straitjacket with which Holyrood can restrict Westminster.
Joining the ranks of the many who had already pointed this out is Lord Sewel, the constitutional expert who lent his name to the system by which responsibilities between the two parliaments are staked out. Under the convention, Westminster does not normally legislate on devolved issues without approval from Holyrood.
Nicola Sturgeon’s position is that by pressing on with the EU Withdrawal Bill, MPs are ‘ripping up’ the deal and preparing a power grab by taking post-Brexit powers from Brussels that ought to accrue to Holyrood.
Not so, says Lord Sewel, for these are not normal times. He says the sheer scale of Brexit means that Westminster must have its feet clear to act adroitly ‘on initiative’ as problems present.
It cannot be the case that the Holyrood tail can wag the Westminster dog on matters international, which are outwith the Edinburgh parliament’s area of responsibility. So why is the SNP so very agitated? Lord Sewel is clear that all this is not the constitutional crisis the SNP pretends and that the fuss is merely to seek political advantage.
This chimes precisely with what Jim Sillars, former deputy leader of the SNP, said at the weekend.
He accused Nicola Sturgeon of taking an unnecessarily combative stance, provoking confrontation when sensible negotiation could have produced fruit in terms of additional powers for Holyrood.
The SNP claims that devolution is being trampled by uncaring Conservatives, but the truth is the fundamentalist wing of the SNP does not want devolution to succeed.
It wants independence at any cost and sees mileage in pretending plucky Scotland is being ignored by big, bad Westminster.
Yet it cuts no ice with Scots, who see a party desperate to further its own ends by any means necessary when what would be better for Scotland would be support for the UK Government’s titanic struggle to secure the best possible deal from the EU.
The scale of that battle is underscored by yesterday’s Lords vote when, for the 16th time, a key piece of Government Brexit legislation was rejected.
Here is the real constitutional crisis, as the Lords and Commons are locked in a power struggle.
Meanwhile, the Brexit clock ticks on while businesses on which millions of jobs and the entire economy depend want clarity, not political bickering.