Anger as Westminster debates devolution in 19 minutes

The Scottish Parliament has still not given consent

Published 13th Jun 2018

Relations between the Scottish and UK governments have reached a new low as furious SNP leaders threatened to withdraw their cooperation with Westminster, accusing Conservatives there of forcing through a Brexit "power grab'' by the backdoor.

Scottish Government ministers and SNP MPs were outraged when amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill related to devolution were passed by the House of Commons after just 15 minutes of debate - with Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington the only member who made a speech.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "I'm afraid the normal relationships between the Scottish and Westminster governments have to be impacted by this.''

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her reaction.

The Scottish First Minister added: "The decision to act without our consent, and the manner of doing it, will not be forgotten.''

It comes as ministers in Edinburgh and London have been engaged in a standoff over what should happen to powers returning to the UK after Brexit.

While Conservatives at Westminster say some of these must come to Parliament to allow for common frameworks to be established in areas such as agriculture and environmental regulations, ministers at Holyrood fear the powers of the Scottish Parliament could be restrained for up to seven years.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell hit out at the nationalists for "constitutional posturing'', saying it was "quite clear that it was never going to be possible to get agreed amendments because quite simply the Scottish Government, the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon have a different view of the constitution from everybody else''.

He blamed Labour for the lack of debating time, saying there would have been "much, much more time'' if Jeremy Corbyn's party had not pushed for so many votes to be held.

The Scottish Parliament has already voted against giving its formal consent to the Withdrawal Bill, with SNP, Labour, Green and Lib Dem MSPs united in this stance.

Mike Russell, the Scottish Government's Brexit minister, branded the UK Government a "travesty and a disgrace'', asking How can any meaningful negotiation take place after that?''

He warned: "We need to - and we will - respond intelligently and forcefully.''

Labour MP Ian Murray blamed the government for the lack of debating time, saying UK ministers could have ensured votes did not take away from the time available for members to speak.

He said: "What they did was put a programme motion in place to try and force the opposition parties not to vote and I'm not sure that's very democratic.

"That took up time and therefore was eating into the time not just to talk about Scottish devolution but also affected Wales and the border in Northern Ireland."