A welcome step
It was very encouraging to at last hear a more conciliatory tone from the First Minister, as she emerged from Downing Street following the latest talks about the treatment of powers returning from the EU under Brexit (“Sturgeon opens door to ‘power grab” deal’, 15 March).
Hopefully this is genuine and will continue over the next two weeks to enable a deal to be finalised. If only this more positive approach had been taken from the start, it is tempting to wonder if not only an earlier agreement could have been reached over the powers in general, but also that there might have been more scope for flexibility to be shown for Scotland’s genuine needs in regards to immigration. Instead the Scotdamage tish Government went on the offensivefromthemomentthe EU referendum result came in, arguably focusing more on creating a constitutional crisis rather than genuinely seeking to protect Scotland’s interests. We must hope there is still time for cooler heads on both sides to find the best outcome.
KEITH HOWELL West Linton, Peeblesshire A key to the mindset of today’s Tories can be seen when they can table 147 wrecking amendments within a few days to prevent the Scottish Parliament holding onto its existing powers under the Scotland Act – but at Westminster David Mundell and his Tory colleagues couldn’t lodge a single amendment in six months to Clause 11 of the EU Withdrawal Bill to protect devolved responsibilities.
In retaining 24 major powers, the UK Government still fails to appreciate the difference between Uk-wide common frameworks, involving the Scottish and Welsh administrations, and a London-imposed power grab. By way of comparison, the Walloon parliament could constitutionally force a Belgian veto on an EU trade deal with Canada.
Seemingly, Scottish Tory MPS don’t know what powers are reserved and devolved as on 13 March they actually voted to abolish free school meals and lower childcare arrangements in England, notwithstanding that under House of Commons EVEL procedures these votes are discounted.
This explains why this week’s opinion polls show the SNP ahead of Labour and Tories by 13 percentage points and support for independence is up three points since 2014 – only four points behind the status quo before the full of Brexit to Scotland becomes apparent.
FRASER GRANT Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh