THERE IS NO POWER GRAB DESPITE THE SNP CLAIMS

THE United Kingdom is leaving the European Union as a much more modern country than when we joined it. When the UK entered the European Economic Community in 1973, Scotland did not have the strong parliament it has now. Each of the four nations rightly now has the power to make their own decisions, a principle that sits firmly at the heart of the Union. Tonight, our governments are gathering in Guernsey for the start of the British-Irish Council, a forum to support the different parts of the UK, Ireland and Crown dependencies to work together more closely. Working together is exactly what people all across the UK want to see their respective governments doing. They want to see their lives being improved through joint endeavour. They don’t expect different governments to agree on everything, but they do expect us to keep talking – and listening – to each other, and cooperate on the issues affecting us all. The UK Government, for its part, is committed to keeping up the pace, and improving the depth, of our cooperation. Tomorrow, as well as the British-Irish Council meetings, my ministerial colleagues are in Edinburgh for a joint meeting on European issues, ahead of a regular joint meeting of ministers next week working through the fine details of UK negotiations with the EU. That is just a snapshot of the consistent collaboration that takes place. Working together is a process, not an event: it doesn’t begin and end when the Prime Minister meets the First Minister in Bute House or the First Minister comes to Downing Street. It is an ongoing dialogue.

AND we are working together on far more than Brexit. At home and overseas, our efforts to promote Scottish exports and secure city deals will deliver prosperity for years to come; in security and civil contingencies, the partnership between our governments is helping to keep our citizens safe and secure.

And in the wake of the devastating fire at Glasgow School of Art last week, the Secretary of State for Scotland has been clear that the UK Government stands ready to help.

Whenever I am in Scotland, the businesses I meet with want and expect us to provide stability through close engagement. Those twin aims – of delivering certainty across the UK and strengthening devolution – are at the heart of how we approach the return of powers that have sat in Brussels since we joined the EU, away from the control of both Westminster and Holyrood.

After we leave the EU, the Scottish parliament will have more powers than it does today. More than 80 different powers held in Brussels will transfer to Holyrood, giving the people of Scotland greater control than at any time than during our membership of the EU. The Scottish Government accepts this is the case, despite its claims of a power grab.

The UK and Scottish Governments have also agreed there are a small number of powers touching on devolved areas that will continue to need UK-wide approaches, to protect the UK’s internal market, just as we have now.

That means keeping the flexibility we have across our nations but also being pragmatic, for example, working together to ensure consistent food labelling so Scottish salmon producers don’t have to meet different standards from those in Scotland when selling to England, and ensuring chemicals regulations stay aligned so when firms buy chemicals in Aberdeen they know they are as safe as when they buy them in Cardiff.

These issues have always been set EU-wide in Brussels, not in London or Edinburgh, and it is important we maintain consistency across all four parts of the United Kingdom.

Nothing the Scottish parliament already controls will be taken away from it – quite the opposite. Our track record as a Government on devolution is clear, with new powers over income tax and welfare recently devolved to the Scottish parliament. We want to see power flow down as close as possible to communities.

But as the Government of the whole of the UK, we must also govern in the interest of the whole of the UK. We cannot have a situation where different governments hold a veto over UK-wide action. This includes protecting our internal market, worth four times as much to Scotland as the EU market.

WHATEVER the inevitable political noise as we unpick the complexities of our membership of the EU, I will ensure that we maintain the depth of our ongoing engagement with the Scottish Government, including this week at the British-Irish Council in Guernsey. I hope the Scottish Government will maintain its own side of that relationship, in the interests of the Scottish people that both they and the UK Government work for.

By working together, we will help secure a deal that sees us leave the European Union as a more modern country where all four nations have their voices heard, but also as one United Kingdom, as the people of Scotland voted for in 2014.