UK must show how it will fix Brexit bill, Russell insists

There is “no way” the Scottish Government will give its consent to Brexit legislation until UK ministers reveal how they will amend it, in order to address claims of a Brexit “power grab”.

Scotland’s Brexit minister Michael Russell emerged from the final meeting with UK counterparts of 2017 claiming talks were no closer to a deal and had been further complicated by guarantees to maintain co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Mr Russell warned that “time is running out” to avoid a potential constitutional crisis. He threatened to push ahead with rival Brexit legislation in the Scottish Parliament unless the UK’S flagship Brexit bill is amended in time. London and Edinburgh must agree by March how 111 powers in devolved areas that are held by Brussels will be managed. The EU (Withdrawal) Bill is expected to reach the final stage of consideration in the House of Lords by that deadline and Holyrood will be asked to give its consent.

Theresa May’s deputy, Damian Green, who is leading negotiations for the UK government, claimed progress had been made on agreeing which policy areas could be swiftly devolved and which would require “joint frameworks”.

However, the two sides are no closer on the principle of where the powers will reside after Brexit, with the Scottish Government insisting even those that will be shared must first be devolved. Ministers

0 Damian Green with Brexit Minister David Davis at a Brexit meeting in Whitehall yesterday in Edinburgh fear that if the UK government retains powers in areas such as agriculture, where both sides agree there should be a joint framework to decide policy, London could impose its will if talks to set those frameworks up falter.

“If we are to agree any frameworks at all, they have to be on the basis of equality,” Mr Russell said. “They have to be on the basis of all of us coming together. No-one has a veto on them.”

He added: “We still haven’t seen an amendment to the [Withdrawal] Bill, and the Welsh Government and ourselves have been absolutely clear that we must see that. We must agree it before it is tabled.

“I can’t stress this strongly enough. There is no way we can agree to clause 11 of the Withdrawal Bill and certain other provisions. We’ve made that clear from the beginning and we still have not seen an amendment.”

Mr Green said: “Today we have agreed in principle on the policy areas where legislative frameworks will and will not be required. This is a significant step forward and while there are still areas we disagree on. We will continue to work through these and find solutions. The powers and responsibilities of the devolved administrations will be enhanced as a result of EU exit and we will continue to work closely with them so that the new framework arrangements work effectively.”