Russell blasts UK’S ‘desperate power grab’
● Minister tells MSPS white paper is a threat to Holyrood’s ability to legislate
The UK government’s internal market plans have been blasted as an “elaborate” and “most desperate power grab” by Scotland’s constitution secretary Michael Russell.
Giving evidence at a Holyrood committee on environment and new Scottish Government EU continuity bill which aims to replace the one struck down by the Supreme Court in 2018, Mr Russell said the bill forms a “significant threat” to the Scottish Parliament and it’s ability to leg islate.
The internal market plans were brought forward by the UK government to ensure the same rules and regulations apply on the sale of goods and services across the country after the EU internal market ceases to apply at the end of the year when the transition period with the EU ends.
However, the Scottish Government insists the white paper on the plans undermines the authority of the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Russell said the plans had “assassinated” the work around the common frame - works which have been ongoing for several years since the Brexit referendum which were intended to set out a common Great Britain approach on areas of policy, including common goals and minimum or maximum standards.
Such is the ferocity of the disagreement, Mr Russell has said the Scottish Government could launch a court battle to fight the plans.
Speaking at the environment committee during a virtual meeting, Mr Russell said the internal market white paper“deliberately mi sund er stands” European concepts and said it forms a “significant threat”.
He said: “It’s a very serious threat. We have been working in good faith with the UK government on the issue of frameworks and indeed out of the whole sorry Brexit process this is the one thing which we’ve been able to come to some conclusions on.
“I have made a commitment that we will not do anything out with of that process that would damage relationships and then suddenly virtually out of nowhere comes this internal market white paper which takes two European concepts, misunderstands, perhaps deliberately misunderstands, them and creates a set of circumstances in which Scottish regulation in virtually every area would be undermined.
“Because it wouldn’t matter what regulations we passed or decided to pass, they could be undercut by decisions by the UK Parliament.
“It is difficult to underesti - mate the damage the internal market paper would do to the frameworks process and we could not accept the internal market proposals and we have made that absolutely clear.
“The internal market paper forms a significant threat to all of the things the Scottish Parliament is talking about and it undermines and indeed destroys the ability of the Scottish Parliament to make choices for the people of Scotland in the devolved areas of competence, it is as serious as that.”
The constitution secretary added that the internal market paper was so wide-ranging that it could impact on Scottish decision making around public sector contracts such as NHS procurement, water privatisation, and building standards, a policy area he said have been different to England since “time immemorial”.
Label ling the move as the “most elaborate and most desperate power grab”, he added that relationships between the devolved administrations in the UK and Westminster have gone “from bad to worse”.