Tory MP blasts own party over Brexit Bill debacle
Stirling MP Stephen Kerr has explained why he blasted Ministers from his own party over the Brexit Bill earlier this month.
Mr Kerr was one of a number of Scottish Conservative MPs who spoke out as the bill went from the House of Commons to the Lords for further scrutiny.
He was unhappy at the Westminister Government’s failure to make arrangements in the legislation to ensure powers relating to devolved areas, to be repatriated from Brussels, are channelled towards the administrations in Edinburgh and Cardiff.
It is anticipated the Lords are likely to make the necessary changes to bring about the devolution of returning powers.
However, SNP rivals remain suspicious and fear a“power grab”by Theresa May’s Government.
Although, Mr Kerr voted for the Government despite his frustration at the turn of events, he told Ministers in the Chamber: “It sticks in my craw to think that unelected Lords will make the vital amendments to this vital constitutional Bill.
“It is not really good enough, and as a Member of the House of Commons I hang my head to think that we have somehow dropped the ball.
“The Bill will leave this House unamended and in an unsatisfactory state, and we are now dependent on unelected Lords to do our job for us.”
He told the Observer this week:“I received assurances that (the legislation) was incomplete, that it would be sorted out and that the devolution settlement would be respected and powers would go back to the Scottish Government.
“However, when we returned from the Christmas and New Year break, we were told there would be no amendment to make this happen and gave us excuses.
“I was not alone among Conservative MPs in being really unhappy because it appeared to be underlining the SNP narrative that the devolution settlement was some how under threat.”
Mr Kerr said he told Conservative Party whips of his intention to speak out over the debacle.
He added:“I had Cabinet Ministers and whips trying to explain why they had failed to deliver.
“I am not trying to sound arrogant but I didn’t find the excuses acceptable. I did vote for the Government in the end ... because the matter is going to be amended in the House of Lords and it would have been just gamesmanship to have changed the bill (based on the amendments from the other parties).”
He believes the changes in the Lords will make the legislation acceptable to the devolved administrations, and added:“I voted to leave the European Union but recognise and respect that in the constituency I represent, two-thirds of people voted to remain.
“I think what my constituents now want is a common sense approach to make Brexit happen as smoothly as possible, otherwise no-one wins.”
Mr Kerr said he was not one of the Tory MPs currently lobbying to get rid of Theresa May as party leader, but added:“While there are certain aspects of the Government’s performance I would like to see strengthened, I am not sure a leadership contest is what we need right now.
“The Government needs to be projecting a positive and ambitious idea about what the final outcome of Brexit will be and there is a lot of frustration about mixed messages coming from the Cabinet; I share that.”
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