No10 is warned: Don’t ignore Holyrood’s vote on Brexit
●MSPS refuse to give consent to UK’S main piece of Brexit legislation
Prime Minister Theresa May’s key Brexit legislation has been rejected by the Scottish Parliament in an unprecedented vote that paves the way for a constitutional crisis.
Scotland’s Brexit minister Michael Russell last night warned Mrs May to respect the will of Holyrood after the SNP, Labour, the Greens and the Lib eral Democrats united to vote against the EU Withdrawal Bill.
The vote takes the UK into uncharted constitutional territory, marking the first time that Holyrood has knocked back legislation that a UK government intends to press ahead with regardless.
But Mr Russell said UK ministers should not “drown out” Holyrood as the prospect of Mrs May’s administration defying the will of the Scottish Parliament moved a step closer.
The Conservatives countered by claiming the Scottish Government’s refusal to accept the bill was a “cover” for another push for Scottish independence.
MSPS voted by 93 to 30 for a Scottish Government motion rejecting the bill, with a Labour amendment calling on the Scottish and UK governments to convene cross-party talks in an attempt to break the impasse.
Yesterday it emerged that UK Cabinet minister David Lidington had written to Scottish party leaders saying the UK government would consider any “practical variations” to the bill.
The dispute centres on how EU powers in devolved areas such as
agriculture and fishing are repatriated to the UK.
The UK government has said the vast majority of such powers should go straight to the devolved institutions apart from some in 24 policy areas where they want to develop “common frameworks” across the UK.
UK ministers propose that Westminster should temporarily have control over those 24 areas for a few years so that those frameworks can be developed.
That arrangement has been accepted by the Labour government in Wales, but is opposed by Labour at Holyrood and the SNP administration.
Scottish ministers claim that the UK government’s approach represents a “power grab” and maintain that devolved institutions should give explicit consent for changes to be made to the frameworks.
The UK government considers that unacceptable because it would give devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and potentially northern ireland a veto over Uk-wide policy.
After the vote Mr Russell warned the UK government that it “must respect the will of the parliament”.
He said: “The UK government cannot ignore the reality of devolution or try to drown out what this parliament says. They cannot pretend that no motion has been passed.
“If after tonight’s vote the UK government move to force on this parliament an arrangement for restricting devolution that does not have parliament’s consent they will do so in the full knowledge that they are breaking the 20-year old devolution settlement and operating outwith the agreed constitution. Those are actions that will be noted here and across Europe.”
Mr Russell will now write to Mr Lidington, calling on him come to Scotland and “hear the concerns of all parties and to discuss with the Scottish Government and the UK government any new ideas from any of the parties”.
The UK government has the power to go against the will of Holyrood because the long-standing agreement that Westminster should not legislate in devolved areas without Holyrood consent is merely a political convention and is not enforcible by the courts.
The European Withdrawal Bill was supported by the Scottish Conservatives, but their amendment urging Holyrood to give consent to the legislation was rejected by a majority of MSPS.
Conservative constitution spokesman Professor Adam Tomkins claimed a new drive for Scottish independence was behind the SNP’S refusal to do a deal on post-brexit powers. Meanwhile his colleague Jackson Carlaw claimed Labour and the Lib Dems were acting as “midwives” for a second independence referendum by supporting the Scottish Government.
Professor Tomkins said: “Scottish Labour’s position simply doesn’t make sense; in Wales, the Labour administration has today backed this deal yet, here in Scotland, Richard Leonard is content to do the SNP’S bidding.
“As for the Lib Dems, they admitted today that they weren’t even voting on the Brexit withdrawal deal, but because they don’t back the EU referendum result.
“It’s patently obvious that Nicola Sturgeon wants a political crisis to provide cover for her independence drive.
“We will stand up for anyone – Conservative, Labour or Lib Dem – who wants to see the SNP challenged and taken on.
“The SNP has taken the wrong path today. It’s deeply disappointing that the leaders of Labour and the Lib Dems have helped them do it.”
Labour’s Brexit spokesman Neil Findlay warned the Tories’ “shambolic” approach to Brexit could see the dispute end up in the Supreme Court. Mr Findlay said: “As the party that delivered devolution, Labour will always seek to defend and strengthen it – and that is why we could not vote to give consent to the EU Withdrawal Bill at this time. The Tories’ shambolic handling of this key area for Scotland is pushing the case towards the Supreme Court. The people of Scotland want this mess fixed and even after this vote there is still time to do that.
“It is welcome that both the UK and Scottish Governments have agreed to cross-party talks to resolve this deadlock and this must begin urgently.”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said the UK government was “disappointed” with Holyrood’s decision but added there was still hope of agreement.
After nearly two decades, devolved government in the UK finds itself in unchartered waters this morning following the Scottish Parliament’s rejection of the UK government’s legal framework for the country after Brexit.
Perhaps this is a confrontation the young Parliament has been avoiding since it was reconvened in 1999. The outcome will determine the political mood for years to come. Sweeping new powers are returning from Brussels, but there is now the prospect this could all be overshadowed by a new climate of grievance with Holyrood’s wings being clipped by its Westminster master.
The EU Withdrawal Bill creates a legal framework which largely mirror current European laws in the myriad of areas where powers will be returned from Brussels.
The row which has flared up with the devolved administrations centres on claims of a “power grab” in areas which should come back to the Scottish Parliament in line with the devolution settlement.
It includes 111 powers which belong at the Scottish Parliament – but there are 24 disputed powers which the UK government has decided to hold on to, arguing that Uk-wide rules are needed in these areas to ensure the smooth running of the UK’S internal market. The cross-party anger at Holyrood, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats also opposed, indicates this is not simply sabrerattling on the part of the SNP.
The powers in dispute may seem relatively mundane, covering areas like animal health and traceability, feed safety and hygiene law, as well as chemical regulation. Both SNP ministers in Edinburgh and Tory ministers in London actually agree that the 24 areas in dispute should be subject of Uk-wide frameworks – it’s just a matter of agreeing how to implement this.
But there is a fundamental principle at stake which goes to the heart of the authority of the Scottish Parliament. If Westminster wants to make laws in these devolved areas they should seek consent of Holyrood, just as they would in all other devolved areas such as policing and health.
Previously, when areas of disagreement arose, there seemed to be mechanisms in place to deal with it. So when parts of the UK Welfare Reform Bill a few years ago prompted objections at Holyrood, the UK government simply removed those areas deemed unacceptable by Holyrood.
This time no such compromise appears likely. UK ministers look certain to press ahead with the bill. On this constitutional row, it seems that Westminster is determined to take a stand.
In fairness, there has been clear movement from the UK government over the “power grab” concerns. Changes have been made to the original proposals to ensure all 111 devolved powers do come back to Holyrood. Only the 24 disputed powers will be frozen temporarily with a seven-year “sunset clause”, meaning they will return to Holyrood after this period.
During this period, Westminster must also seek consent of Holyrood to legislate in these areas. However, Nicola Sturgeon has lasered in on the fact that UK ministers can still press ahead even without that consent. What will worry the MSPS manning the barricades to “defend devolution” is the crushing apathy on the part of the wider Scottish public about all this constitutional turmoil.
Asked to explain how this would impact on the lives of ordinary Scottish voters, a spokesman for Ms Sturgeon ventured that it could jeopardise the rules surrounding GM crops which differ between Scotland and England. An important issue for some, but hardly the stuff of popular uprisings over a threat to Scottish democracy. The truth remains, as all polling shows, most Scots are not clear about the powers of the Scottish Parliament at the moment.
That a group of seemingly technical regulations covering areas like food labelling and crofting may have to wait a few years before being returned from Brussels, via London, will only ever have limited traction with voters.
It’s this which has emboldened the UK government to take a stand. They see it as a technical argument about obscure regulations and blame the SNP for using to it to manufacture a grievance and push the case for independence.
The Welsh Assembly had similar “power grab” concerns but then decided to accept the UK government’s compromise deal, appearing to leave Ms Sturgeon isolated. The Liberal Democrat peers, Lord Steel, Holyrood’s inaugural presiding officer, and Lord Wallace, the former deputy first minister, were both founding fathers of devolution and have also argued that the compromise deal protected Holyrood’s integrity.
So the support of Labour and Liberal Democrat MSPS has certainly been a welcome boost for Ms Sturgeon in this respect, showing she at least has crossparty support at Holyrood. To add to the confusion, the Scottish Government has passed its own Brexit bill – the EU Continuity Bill – which is set to go to the UK Supreme Court after Holyrood’s Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh said it was outwith the Scottish Parliament’s competence. But if judges back it, we could be faced with the bizarre situation of two competing post-brexit legal frameworks being in place in Scotland.
This is the real constitutional crisis at the heart of this dispute. Can shared sovereignty really work in a devolved setup? And especially with two governments on opposing sides of the constitutional fence. This row over Brexit certainly seems to have clearly mapped out its limits. The UK Parliament has always ultimately had the authority to override the Scottish Parliament when disputes arise. MSPS have never really had a veto. It is only now that this quandary at the root of devolution is finally being tested. With the rise of Nationalism ensuring a pro-independence administration has been ensconsed in Scotland for almost a generation now, this showdown has been coming as Holyrood has incrementally gained more powers in the two decades since devolution.