SNP ministers have been accused of empty spin after confirming a pledge to withhold consent from any UK Brexit legislation will be ditched.
Constitutional Relations Secretary Mike Russell previously insisted the Scottish Government would not give its blessing to any Brexit bills.
However he has now written to Theresa May’s de facto deputy confirming ministers will support new laws aimed at finding alternatives to Britain’s current reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the EU.
Scottish Tory constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said the move showed the SNP’s spin was “always nonsense”.
He said: “This is a welcome climbdown by Mike Russell but it does rather demolish all his previous bluster on refusing to grant legislative consent on Brexit.
“You don’t have to back Brexit to ensure it is implemented in an orderly manner. If Mr Russell now agrees that consent should be given in this case, he should grant it in others too.
“The SNP’s spin about a power grab was always nonsense. Mr Russell should now dump the SNP’s political game playing on Brexit once and for all.”
Mr Russell previously said he “couldn’t conceive of circumstances” in which Holyrood would consent to Westminster legislation until the “broken” devolution system is fixed.
It came amid claims the UK Government had ignored the will of Holyrood by pushing ahead with Brexit legislation without its consent.
However last month Mr Russell admitted this approach could be ditched in relation to the Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill.
This aims to safeguard healthcare for the 190,000 expats living in the EU and the 50 million people who travel abroad every year.
In a letter to Mrs May’s deputy David Lidington, dated December 6, Mr Russell revealed Scottish ministers will give consent to the legislation.
He said: “Having reflected on developments on the Healthcare (International Relations) Bill, its purpose in providing reassurance to those with health needs, and the risk of misunderstanding and anxiety, Jeane Freeman and I believe that the Scottish Parliament should exceptionally and without prejudice to future decisions be invited to put beyond doubt its application in Scotland through a formal legislative consent motion.”
Mr Russell said the threat to reciprocal healthcare “comes entirely from the UK Government’s Brexit policy and would be resolved by staying in the EU, in line with the wishes of the people of Scotland”.
He added: “In all circumstances the Scottish Government will take the necessary action to protect Scotland’s interests, including the healthcare of people abroad, as far as possible from this Brexit threat. We will therefore exceptionally recommend the Scottish Parliament consents to this Bill.
“The UK Government has made it clear it is willing to disregard the established legislative consent procedure and needs to respond positively to proposals from the Scottish Government to restore confidence in the convention.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel