THE Tories have refused to say who was paying for the UK Government’s decision to challenge the Scottish Parliament’s Brexit bill in the courts.
Answering an urgent question in the House of Commons yesterday, Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, told MPs that not challenging Holyrood’s rebel EU Withdrawal Bill could be catastrophic.
“If the continuity bills were to become law, there would be impacts not just on the Government and legislatures but on widespread understanding of and confidence in UK law after exit,” he said.
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The SNP’s Joanna Cherry told Wright that the legal challenge was the first in the 20-year history of the Scottish Parliament.
It was, she added, a bill passed by an overwhelming majority in the Scottish Parliament, with only the Tories and one LibDem MSP voting against.
“Why is the Tory government seeking to defeat a bill in the courts which it could not defeat by democratic means in the Scottish Parliament?” she asked.
The QC added: “Does he accept that this will be widely seen as an attack on the Scottish Parliament and the democratic legitimacy of the devolved settlement.
“How much is this going to cost and who’s going to meet the legal costs?”.
Tory backbencher David TC Davies rushed to his minister’s assistance, insisting that taking the bill passed by Holyrood to the Supreme Court was democratic.
“The people of Scotland have voted to stay within the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union, the people of Wales have voted to leave the European Union.”
The Government was, he insisted, “trying to implement the democratic will of the British people”.
Angus’s Tory MP, Kirstene Hair, who last year admitted she didn’t vote in the EU referendum, suggested there were other motives behind the Continuity Bill.
“Myself and my colleagues have been concerned that the SNP Continuity Bill is a political manoeuvre designed to create a precedent for legislation for a second independence referendum.
She called on the SNP to “put this grievance to one side and get serious about working together as one team for the best possible Brexit deal for Scotland and the UK.
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that there were now just “days rather than weeks” to reach agreement on the UK Government’s EU Withdrawal Bill.
Speaking at an evidence session with Holyrood’s committee conveners, Sturgeon said the referral to the Supreme Court was “deeply regrettable”.
“The Westminster government had a decision to make, whether to respect the decision the Scottish Parliament arrived at or not to respect it, and unfortunately they opted not to and referred to the Supreme Court,” she said.
She added that the decision had a “bearing on the spirit of the negotiations” on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
“I think it’s fair to say we are reaching the end game of this,” she said.
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