Alex Massie Alex Massie

A Brexit ‘power grab’ could play into the SNP’s hands

The stramash between Theresa May’s government in London and Nicola Sturgeon’s ministry in Edinburgh over the need for the devolved parliaments to consent to the UK government’s EU withdrawal bill is, as the wags say, the world’s most boring constitutional crisis. So much so, indeed, that many voters in Scotland – to say nothing of elsewhere in the realm – remain splendidly indifferent to it. 

The Scottish parliament yesterday refused to give its consent to the withdrawal bill. Legally, this changes little. Politically, it has the potential to change many things. Nicola Sturgeon, with the support of Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens, says she is “protecting devolution” and standing up for the Scottish parliament. 

No self-respecting Scottish government, of any party, could allow Westminster to unilaterally legislate in areas that would have been devolved had the UK not been a member of the EU and had the devolution acts been drafted in the same way as they were drafted a generation ago. There is plenty of conditionality there, of course, but there you have it. Donald Dewar’s devolution bill reserved powers to Westminster; everything not explicitly reserved was devolved. That included matters such as agriculture and fishing.

Even so, all this masks the fact there is substantial agreement between the respective governments. They agree that something approaching 80 per cent of the responsibilities being repatriated from Brussels to the UK should in turn be passed on to the devolved administrations. And they all agree that common UK-wide “frameworks” need to be in place and that a UK-wide approach to fishing, agriculture, state aid and the rest of the 24 remaining powers are at the heart of this dispute. 

Those frameworks would remain in place for five years after the great Brexit liberation day is celebrated.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in