Tory tactics over the EU have boosted case for independence, claims Russell
BREXIT Minister Michael Russell yesterday claimed the UK Government had boosted the case for independence by lying to the people of Scotland, as cross-Border relations plunged to a new low.
He launched a tirade about Theresa May and her ministers and hinted that negotiations are close to breaking down entirely.
The Nationalist MSP claimed the Tories’ actions are making issues around whether Scotland should leave the UK ‘the key questions’ in the Brexit process.
His comments come after the Scottish Government this week lost its legal bid to secure a Holyrood veto on the UK triggering the formal process of leaving the EU.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling that the UK Government is ‘not legally compelled’ to consult MSPs on its plans, Mr Russell claimed that there is still a political duty to seek consent from Holyrood because of the ‘Sewel Convention’. The convention states Westminster will normally only legislate on devolved matters with the express agreement of MSPs. In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday, Mr Russell claimed Scotland is not being treated as an ‘equal partner’ in the UK.
He said: ‘It has got a little worse because the UK Government has asserted constantly that they put the Sewel Convention into legislation and that this was a guarantee of consultation, and now we consider, to be blunt with you, they weren’t telling the truth.’
But his attack surprised UK ministers ahead of a meeting between Mr Russell and Scottish Secretary David Mundell due to take place at Holyrood today to discuss new powers which could come to Scotland following Brexit.
A Whitehall source said: ‘We often find meetings with Mike Russell are courteous and constructive behind closed doors, but then he gives an entirely different impression in public.’
In a statement at Holyrood yesterday, Mr Russell said Mr Mundell had promised last year the Sewel Convention had been ‘written into law’.
Mr Russell told MSPs: ‘It is becoming increasingly clear the UK Government’s approach to Brexit is not just about the question of EU membership but about the kind of country that we want to live in.
‘Do we want to have our future direction determined by an increasingly Right-wing, reckless, hard-Brexit Tory party that is determined to turn its back on Europe despite the threats to jobs, prosperity, rights and freedoms, or is it better to take the future into our own hands?’
He said the Scottish Government would publish a memorandum setting out the implications for devolved matters, and the powers of parliament and Scottish ministers, after the UK Government publishes its Bill to trigger Article 50.
A UK Government spokesman said: ‘The devolution settlement is clear – foreign affairs are reserved to the UK Parliament.’ He added: ‘We are committed to working closely with the Scottish Government as we prepare to leave the EU, as we have done since the vote in June.’