The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Keep those tin hats handy
It was not long ago that Tory and SNP governments were sounding each other out for a ceasefire to the constitutional battles that have come to characterise Scotland’s politics. Back in spring 2016, one Scotland Office civil servant was talking about “putting the tin hats away” after a stream of spats over independence and the fallout from the referendum over new powers for Holyrood.
The mood was there for a more consensual approach to Scotland’s dual administration system.
The Scottish Secretary decided to offer an olive branch to the SNP Government in the days after the party achieved an unprecedented third consecutive term in office in May 2016.
David Mundell said the public are “sick and tired of the bickering and blame games” and pleaded with Scottish ministers: “Let’s reset the relationship between our two governments.”
Within six weeks, the UK voted for Brexit when Scottish voters had expressly rejected it. Both sides reached for those tin hats again.
The row of today centres on the powers that will flow back to the UK once Brexit happens.
Scotland’s devolution deal states all those responsibilities not explicitly reserved to the UK Government will be assumed to be Holyrood’s.
Mr Mundell said last week that creates a powers “bonanza” for Holyrood through Brexit in areas such as the environment, energy, consumer rights and criminal justice.
Not so, say the SNP, who point to the freshly-published Repeal Bill – which transfers EU laws on to UK statute books – as confirmation Westminster is plotting a “power grab”.
In bullish mood, Mr Mundell said the SNP is being true to form in manufacturing grievance over what he insists will be a power-boosting exercise for Holyrood.
For the SNP, the fatal flaw in the bill is the lack of explicit protection for devolved powers coming back from Brussels.
They are also scathing of the UK Government’s plans to hold Brussels powers in Westminster for an unspecified period, while it is decided which ones are then transferred over the border.
That decision process will be undertaken using so-called Henry VIII powers, Scottish ministers fear, which would allow their UK counterparts to act without much recourse to parliament.
The UK Government says a key reason the powers need to be temporarily held in London is to decide which areas will require common regulatory frameworks to protect the UK single market. For example, Westminster may need to retain some powers over consumer rights to ensure food labelling is the same across the island, ministers say.
Much of the difficulty over the returning powers from Brussels rests around the lack of assurances from the UK Government over what specific ones Holyrood is in line for, other than in the vaguest of terms.
On top of that you have an SNP Government which is tying its independence dream to Brexit being an economic disaster orchestrated by a Tory administration desperate to undermine devolution.
What is clear is that Brexit will force a major overhaul of Scottish devolution.
In the fog of a fiendishly complex extrication – and the haze of political rhetoric and opportunism that will cloud it further – it is something that must be scrutinised closely by those holding power to account.
“Brexit will force a major overhaul of devolution