DAVID Davis has made clear that the UK Government expects a “significant increase” in the powers of Holyrood post Brexit but did not say what they would be.
During the first of two days of Commons debate on the flagship EU Withdrawal Bill, the Brexit Secretary insisted the Conservative administration had a “strong track record on devolution”. He pointed to the 2016 Scotland Act, which handed over £12 billion-worth of tax-raising powers; “not such a small thing,” he declared.
Mr Davis explained that when Brexit happened, it would not be in the interests of the people and businesses of Scotland if the common frameworks that currently existed were to disappear nor “for there to be new barriers to living and doing business in our own country”.
Mr Davis said the bill ensured “certainty and continuity” while the Brexit talks proceeded, adding: “It also ensures every decision that the devolved administrations and legislatures could take before exit day, they can still take after exit day. This is a transitional arrangement.”
The SNP’s Patrick Grady suggested what the Secretary of State was describing was “not devolution but reserving powers to this Parliament”.
“It is a fundamental breach of the principles of the original Scotland Act,” declared the MP for Glasgow North.
He asked whether or not any planned statutory instruments affecting the devolved administrations as a result of the bill would be subject to legislative consent motions in those institutions. Mr Davis replied: “I have said already that we will put our overall negotiation through legislative consent motions.”
Earlier, Mr Davis stressed that he would "stand ready" to listen to "those who offer improvements to the bill in the spirit of preparing our statute book for withdrawal from the European Union".
He faced a series of questions from MPs, many of which focused on so-called "Henry VIII powers", which would allow secondary legislation to be passed with little parliamentary scrutiny.
Ministers believe between 800 and 1,000 such statutory instruments will be required as Brexit legislation makes its way through Parliament.
During exchanges, the Secretary of State accused Labour of adopting a "cynical and unprincipled" position by seeking to block the bill. He warned Britons would “not forgive them," if they attempted to "delay or destroy" the process of leaving the EU.
Mr Davis insisted that a "smooth and orderly exit is impossible" if the legislation were not approved. He was heckled by Labour MPs after claiming support for the Opposition’s amendment would be a vote for a "chaotic" Brexit.
But Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Davis’s Labour Shadow, claimed the Government was seeking to mislead people.
“The Secretary of State is keen to portray the bill as a technical exercise converting EU law into our own law without raising any serious constitutional issues about the role of Parliament. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he declared.
Sir Keir added: “The combined effect of the bill’s provisions would be to reduce MPs to spectators as power pours into the hands of ministers and the executive. This is an unprecedented power-grab -“rule by decree” is not a mis-description - and an affront to Parliament and to accountability.”
Peter Grant, the SNP’s Europe spokesman, also argued that the legislation sought to “usurp and undermine” parliamentary sovereignty and was a power-grab.
The MP for Glenrothes noted how there had been a “lot more clarity” from Labour on the benefits of membership of the single market and customs union and so the Nationalists would support its amendment come Monday.
At Holyrood, Michael Russell, the Scottish Government’s Brexit minister, said UK ministers’ treatment of the devolved administrations had become “intolerable” and they could be making a "conscious effort" to undermine the devolution settlement.
Elsewhere, Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, urged Ruth Davidson to "stand up and be counted" over Brexit after the Scottish Conservative leader expressed fears that if Brexit caused an economic downturn, Britain would not bounce back.
Meanwhile, speaking to business leaders in Dublin, Labour's Lord Mandelson, a former EU commissioner, said Britain could not expect to retain the “exact same benefits of single market and customs union membership if it seeks to leave them".
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