NICOLA Sturgeon refused to strike a deal with the UK Government over its flagship Brexit legislation after it insisted on holding on to devolved powers being repatriated from Brussels for up to seven years.
Mike Russell revealed the timescale in a statement to MSPs yesterday updating them on ongoing talks over the EU Withdrawal Bill which is currently going through Westminster.
READ: First Minister's full letter to Theresa May over UK Brexit Bill
UK ministers want the Scottish Government to recommend Holyrood gives consent to the legislation but the First Minister has rejected the demand saying it would constrain the Scottish Parliament’s powers.
Throughout the talks the Scottish Government has insisted Holyrood must agree to any UK-wide legislation brought in post-Brexit relating to devolved areas, such as farm payments, food standards or animal welfare.
But the Scottish Brexit Minister said the latest UK Government amendment to the contentious Clause 11 of the bill, which sets out a sunset clause to limit the time the restrictions can be in place, continued to fall short both in terms of its refusal to give Holyrood consent and in the length of time Westminster could hold on to the devolved powers being repatriated from Brussels.
READ: Mike Russell's full statement on status of Brexit talks with UK
In a statement to Holyrood, Russell said: “The key sticking point remains, as it always has been, Clause 11 and the insistence of the UK Government on its right to take control of devolved powers.”
Devolved powers returning from Brussels in the wake of Brexit would go first to the UK Government, so common frameworks can be established, but even with the “sunset clause” in place, Russell claimed Westminster would have a “free hand to pass legislation” affecting matters such as fishing or the environment in Scotland for up to seven years, while Holyrood’s hands would be “tied”.
He said: “It would be an outrage if the UK Government decided to use what the people of Scotland did not vote for – Brexit – to undermine what we did vote for: devolution.
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“The UK Government has no mandate to undermine the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
“And, therefore, the Scottish Government will do everything we can to protect the devolution settlement people voted for so overwhelmingly more than 20 years ago.”
Earlier yesterday the First Minister wrote to Theresa May to say that she continued to oppose the bill and said the best option in terms of an agreement would be for Clause 11 to be removed, or for consent to be given to Holyrood in terms of legislation on future UK common frameworks.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens’ co-convenor, supported the Scottish Government: “We believe MSPs must dig our heels in and refuse to give consent to the EU Withdrawal Bill,” he said. “It is unacceptable for Brexit to be used to undermine devolution, especially when Scotland voted Remain so strongly. The people of Scotland have already shown they want nothing to do with this Brexit disaster.”
Shortly after Russell’s statement the Welsh Government, which had also raised power grab concerns, announced it would support the bill, saying the new changes would protect devolution. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood subsequently accused the Welsh Government of “selling Wales down the river”.
Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said Sturgeon had “put her narrow nationalist agenda before the good of the country”.
He said: “The Welsh Government has signed up to this deal. Yet Nicola Sturgeon, alone, refuses because she prefers to pick a fight with the rest of the UK in order to keep her obsession with a second independence referendum alive. She began using Brexit to push for that referendum on the morning after the vote, and she hasn’t stopped trying since.”
Scottish Labour Brexit spokesman Neil Findlay said: “The fact the government of Wales has reached an agreement but the Scottish Government has not is a real concern. It would be wrong for the SNP government to play politics with devolution in order to further their goal of independence.”
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said the UK Government had “put a considerable offer on the table that would see the vast majority of devolved powers automatically flow from the EU to Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh”.
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