HOLYROOD TO GET NEW POWERS
Scotland will control key policies and laws, says May
THERESA May yesterday promised that the Scottish parliament will benefit from a mass Brussels power grab thanks to Brexit.
The Prime Minister pledged that Holyrood will see a ‘significant increase’ in its decision-making power as a result of policy-making returning to the UK from Europe.
As she formally began the two-year process of Britain leaving the European Union, she insisted the Scottish Government will benefit from key controls over policies and laws which could include fishing, agriculture, criminal justice and the environment.
Mrs May gave an assurance that separating from Brussels will ‘strengthen the Union’. But she put herself on a collision course with Nicola Sturgeon by rejecting her demand to provide a separate Brexit deal for Scotland – and instead insisted she would negotiate a single deal for the whole of the UK.
In her letter to European Council President Donald Tusk triggering Article 50 and beginning Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, Mrs May said she would ‘negotiate as one United Kingdom, taking due account of the interests of every nation and region of the UK as we do so’.
She said there would be a consultation on whether powers from Brussels go to Westminster or the devolved nations – and that the ‘expectation of the Government’ is that there will be a ‘significant increase’ in Holyrood’s powers.
Mrs May told MPs: ‘We will take control of our own laws and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain. Leaving the EU will mean our laws will be made in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, interpreted not by judges in Luxembourg, but in courts across this country.
‘When it comes to the powers we will take back from Europe, we will consult fully on which powers should reside in Westminster and which should be passed on to the devolved administrations. But no decisions currently taken by the devolved administrations will be removed from them.
‘It is the expectation of the Government that the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will see a significant increase in their decision-making power as a result of this process.’
UK ministers have not yet disclosed which powers at present controlled by Brussels will be ‘repatriated’ to Westminster and which will go to the devolved nations. They are understood to favour the idea of ‘shared powers’ in key devolved areas. That would mean in areas such as agriculture and fishing, the UK Government would set key rules and regulatory framework, while the Scottish Government would have responsibility for policy in these areas.
Holyrood could also be given powers over laws at present controlled by Brussels.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said he is ‘confident’ the Scottish parliament will have more power after Brexit. Asked to provide examples, he said: ‘We need to go through in a systematic way, rather than giving out generalisations – on criminal justice, environmental responsibilities, agriculture and fisheries.
‘Some will operate on a UKwide level, some will be shared responsibilities.’
However, SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson said he did not believe all powers relating to fishing and farming will come to Scotland and added: ‘Scotland will have to play second fiddle.’
UK Brexit Secretary David Davis formally wrote to Miss Sturgeon rejecting her demand for a ‘separate deal’ for Scotland.
Miss Sturgeon said Article 50 ‘represents a leap in the dark by the Prime Minister’. She added: ‘The UK Government’s hardline approach to Brexit is a reckless gamble and the final deal is almost certain to be worse economically than the existing arrangements.
‘The Prime Minister has today confirmed her aim is to reach a Brexit agreement covering a future relationship within two years.
‘So the people of Scotland must have the final say on their own future once the terms of Brexit are clear.’
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘If the First Minister really wants a powerhouse Scottish parliament, the SNP needs to answer why it wants powers which are now coming back here to go back to the European Union.’
‘Negotiate as one United Kingdom’