May says deal over power grab row ‘edging closer and closer’

0 Theresa May said a deal was close on ‘power grab’ claims Prime Minister Theresa May has said the UK and devolved governments are “edging closer and closer” to a deal that resolves claims of a “power grab” in Brexit legislation.

Scottish and Welsh ministers are demanding that UK government ask for their consent before keeping control of around 25 responsibilities in devolved areas returning from Brussels after Brexit.

The row must be resolved by May so that changes can be made to the EU Withdrawal Bill before it is voted on in the House of Lords.

Devolvedgovernmentaccept that “joint frameworks” will be needed in some areas after Brexit to prevent barriers to trade within the UK, but have insisted that agreement must be sought first.

Answering questions from Commons committee chairs, Mrs May told the SNP’S Pete Wishart that talks were continuing to make progress.

Mr Wishart said it would be “contrary to everything that devolution is about” if the Withdrawal Bill was pushed through without agreement, and if UK ministers “overruled” legislation passed in Edinburgh and Cardiff that asserts control over the contested powers. Mrs May said: “My intention is to come to an agreement with the devolved administrations that enables... a way forward that meets the requirement both of ensuring that people are going to be able to continue to trade easily within the UK as they do today, but respects devolution.”

She added: “We’ve been edging closer and closer… that’s where our focus is.”