Crisis fears as Brexit talks reach stalemate
● Holyrood to withold consent in powers row, warns SNP ● Green says EU exit will mean more powers for Scotland
Scotland’s Brexit minister warned an “unprecedented” constitutional clash is looming after talks in Edinburgh between the Scottish Government and Westminster ended in stalemate last night.
Mike Russell said the Scottish Parliament remains likely to vote against the EU repeal bill on the post-brexit repatriation of EU powers.
An “unprecedented” constitutional clash is looming between the Scottish Government and Westminster after talks in Edinburgh last night failed to break the deadlock over the post-brexit repatriation of European powers.
Scotland’s Brexit minister Mike Russell said the current plans “fatally undermine” the powers of the Scottish Parliament and consent for the proposed EU (Withdrawal) Bill would be withheld by MSPS at Holyrood.
The legislation will repatriate all powers currently sitting at Brussels to Westminster. The SNP Government objects to this approach, insisting that the Scotland Act, which brought about devolution, clearly sets out which responsibilities belong in London, while others in areas like farming, fishing and justice are clearly devolved and should be returned to Holyrood.
Mr Russell said the talks were a “useful opportunity” to exchange views.
But he warned: “We remain absolutely clear that, as things stand, we will not recommend to the Scottish Parliament that it gives its consent to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
“The Bill as currently drafted is impractical and unworkable.
“It is a blatant power grab which would take existing competence over a wide range of devolved policy areas, including aspects of things like agriculture and fishing, away from Holyrood, giving them instead to Westminster and Whitehall.
“That means that, unless there are serious and significant changes to the proposed legislation, the strong likelihood is that the Scottish Parliament will vote against the repeal Bill.
“To be clear, that would not block Brexit and we have never claimed to have a veto over EU withdrawal.
“But UK ministers should still be in no doubt – to override a vote of the Scottish Parliament and impose the EU (Withdrawal) Bill on Scotland would be an extraordinary and unprecedented step to take.”
The Scottish Parliament has never previously withheld consent over such a measure, with previous disputes resolved after negotiation, so the impasse sees the UK heading into uncharted territory.
The talks at the Scottish Government’s St Andrew’s House headquarters yesterday lasted almost two hours. They were the first major attempt by the two governments to resolve the impasse.
Mr Russell and Deputy First Minister John Swinney attended on behalf of the Scottish Government, while UK Government First Secretary Damian Green was joined by Scottish Secretary David Mundell.
Mr Green said the meeting allowed both sides to decide the “principles on which we want to operate” in talks to resolve which powers will be devolved. Further meetings are planned.
He added: “The Scottish Secretary and I both repeated the point which we can’t make too strongly, which is that we hope and expect that at the end of this process there will be more powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government than there have been under the previous EU arrangements.”
UK ministers have previously said the EU (Withdrawal) Bill will be a “powers bonanza” for the Scottish Parliament.
They insist that the Bill is more of a technical mechanism to ensure that the logistics of Brexit and the mass transfer of powers from Brussels to the UK can be undertaken when the UK’S exit formally happens in March 2019.
They say further powers will then be transferred to Holyrood, but some will have to remain at Westminster to protect the UK single market, so that different regulations don’t suddenly emerge for packaging products like Irn Bru north and south of the Border.
But Mr Russell insisted the UK Government must now recognise that “the Bill as drafted cannot proceed”.
He added: “It should be changed to take account of the very serious concerns expressed by the Scottish and Welsh governments.
“The current proposals are a direct threat to the devolution settlement which the people of Scotland overwhelmingly voted for in 1997.
“As we have made clear, we are not opposed in principle to Uk-wide frameworks in certain areas – but this must be on the basis of agreement among equals, not imposed by Westminster.”
“The EU (Withdrawal) Bill as currently drafted is impractical and unworkable. It is a blatant power grab.”
MIKE RUSSELL