Westminster ‘not seeking a power grab’
THE UK Government has “no interest at all” in using the process of transferring European law into British law as a “power grab” against the devolved nations, First Secretary of State Damian Green said yesterday during a visit to Cardiff.
Mr Green and Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns met the First Minister Carwyn Jones in the Welsh capital to discuss arrangements for distributing powers returned from the European Union in the so-called Repeal Bill.
Mr Jones joined forces with the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier this month to label the Bill an “unashamed move to centralise decision-making power in Westminster”.
The Bill aims to transpose EU law into British law so the same rules apply on the day of Brexit as the day before and involves EU responsibilities in devolved areas being initially transferred to Westminster.
The UK Government said the Bill would allow common frameworks to be put in place where necessary before further devolution.
Speaking at Cardiff University’s Institute of Compound Semiconductors, where he and Mr Cairns toured laboratories working on compound semiconductors for use in smartphones following the bilateral talks with Mr Jones, Mr Green said their discussions had covered a full range of issues.
He said: “The UK Government has no interest at all in any kind of power grab. We want and expect more powers to be devolved to Wales after Brexit... A lot of the Bill is about the practicality of life where we know that we will leave the European Union at the end of March 2019.
“There is a huge mass of legislation that needs to be passed to enable businesses to have certainty and confidence, to allow investment to continue and so on.
“We are looking for the most practical way in which we can get all that legislation through and discussed by Parliament, as well as in devolved areas, agreed with the devolved administrations.”
Mr Green said he thought the two administrations had now established a way of working with each other.
Following the meeting, Mr Jones tweeted: “Useful first meeting with @DamianGreen but some way to go before we can support Brexit Bill.”
In a statement he added that the meeting had been constructive but called for a “shift in attitude in Westminster about what the devolution settlement means in principle and in practice”.
He said: “We have offered, and today re-iterated, a common sense approach to resolving the current impasse.
“We have said from the outset that we are not trying to frustrate Brexit, but we need a Brexit that works for Wales and works for the Welsh economy.
“This was a constructive bilateral meeting, where we were able to set out our fundamental opposition to elements of the EU Withdrawal Bill. We need to see changes to that Bill in order to protect the rights of the people of Wales.”
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will be debated on Thursday after MPs return to Westminster following a summer break and the Government said there is a need to identify which policy areas can be devolved to the National Assembly.