Boris Johnson is on collision course for a new bust-up with the UK’s devolved administrations, with the publication of legislation returning swathes of powers over Scottish and Welsh issues from Brussels to Westminster after Brexit.
Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish government today said it would be impossible to recommend that Holyrood give its consent to the UK Internal Markets Bill, which it said would threaten its ability to act independently of London on key issues like minimum unit pricing for alcohol.
Welsh government ministerJeremy Miles denounced the legislation as “an attack on democracy and an affront to the people of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland” which risked sacrificing the future of the Union.
The bill follows the publication in the summer of a white paper proposing new mechanisms to preserve the all-UK internal market following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.
Its provisions for UK ministers to override elements of the Brexit withdrawal agreement relating to Northern Ireland have already provoked a furious row, with the prime minister standing accused of tearing up an international treaty which he negotiated, signed and rushed through parliament with scant time for scrutiny.
But now its proposals for ministers in Westminster to take control of the design and implementation of replacements for a range of EU spending programmes in areas like infrastructure, economic development, culture, sport, educational activities and training have sparked fury in Edinburgh.
And the move also set the scene for confrontation with Cardiff by giving London ministers a say in projects such as the £1.6bn M4 relief road at Newport, rejected by the Welsh administration.
The bill also enshrines in law the principle that issues of state aid subsidies are reserved for Westminster. And it creates a new Office of the Internal Market, with powers to impose financial penalties, to monitor and advise on the preservation of a single market within the four nations of the UK.
Scottish constitution minister Michael Russell said: “This is not a genuine partnership of equals and we couldn’t recommend consent to a bill that undermines devolution and the Scottish parliament, and which, by the UK government’s own admission, is going to break international law.
“This is a shabby blueprint that will open the door to bad trade deals and unleashes an assault on devolution the like we have not experienced since the Scottish parliament was established. We cannot, and will not, allow that to happen.
“It will open the door to a race to the bottom on food standards, environmental standards and will endanger key public health policies such as minimum unit pricing. It will also deliver a hammer blow to the Scottish economy by making it harder for the UK government to conclude free trade agreements if other countries think the UK won’t meet its obligations.”
Meanwhile Mr Miles, the Welsh minister for European transition said: “The UK Government plans to sacrifice the future of the union by stealing powers from devolved administrations.
“Vital decisions over support for Welsh businesses, important infrastructure and investment opportunities and the safety of the food on the shelves of Welsh supermarkets should be made in Wales, by the government of Wales, and with the consent of the Senedd – and not at the behest of Conservative backbenchers.
“The UK Government is explicitly seeking to rewrite the devolution settlement. The fact that they are also seeking primary legislation shows they are taking those powers from us.
“We believe in the principle of an internal market – but this bill is not remotely necessary to deliver it. We will do everything we can to challenge the power grab and the race to the bottom which this bill represents.”
