Scottish Secretary David Mundell faces calls to resign over EU Withdrawal Bill
David Mundell appearing before a Scottish Parliament committee - Image credit: Parliament TV
Scottish secretary David Mundell is facing calls to resign over the UK Government’s handling of devolution in the EU Withdrawal Bill.
The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, called on Scottish Secretary David Mundell to step down after accusing him and UK ministers of having “totally shafted Scotland” over Brexit.
And Labour’s Paul Sweeney also suggested Mundell should leave his post if he could not manage to get agreement between the UK and Scottish governments over Brexit.
The exchanges followed the first statement by the Secretary of State for Scotland since the controversial Brexit vote on Tuesday where only 15 minutes were assigned to debate devolution and no Scottish MPs were given a chance to speak.
The UK Government will go ahead with the EU Withdrawal Bill, despite MSP in the Scottish Parliament refusing to support it.
Under the Sewel convention the UK Government will seek the consent of the devolved parliaments whenever legislation affects devolved matters.
Returning to the parliament after a day’s ban, Blackford said: “The UK Government should not legislate on devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
"The Scottish Parliament denied that consent – not the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament.
“The Scottish National Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
"We have all said that we do not give consent to what the UK Government is seeking to do, yet the Secretary of State comes with excuses, attempting to save his own skin, knowing he has totally shafted Scotland and the people of Scotland."
Sweeney said: “The Secretary of State was responsible for taking the Scotland Act 2016 through this place, he was responsible for inserting the Sewel convention into the legislation, and now he is the person responsible for trampling all over that convention that underpins the devolution settlement.
“The Labour party tabled amendments to clause 11 of the withdrawal Bill at every stage.
“The Secretary of State and his colleagues voted them down every time.
“These amendments would have ensured that the Joint Ministerial Committee had to report to this place and to publish the minutes of its meetings.
“That would have allowed people in Scotland to see exactly what has been going on behind closed doors.
“The Secretary of State voted that down.
“We proposed amendments that would have ensured that any common UK frameworks—frameworks that his government seem to value so much—would not be forced upon the Scottish Parliament.
“The Secretary of State voted that down.
“We proposed amendments that would have ensured that the Scottish Parliament had to give its consent unless the matter related to international obligations, which the Secretary of State will know is entirely in line with the Scotland Act.
“Yet rather than allow us to even just debate that amendment, the Secretary of State allowed Scotland’s voice to be shut out of the debate entirely.”
In response, Mundell accused the “once-proud Scottish Labour Unionist party” of having moved onto “nationalist territory”.
In his statement David Mundell said the amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill struck “the right balance” between increased decision-making powers for the devolved parliaments while protecting UK internal market.
“These amendments do not, and cannot, go as far as the Scottish Government want, because the Scottish Government want a veto over arrangements that will apply to the whole of the UK,” he said.
“But as Lord Wallace, the former deputy first minister of Scotland, set out when the bill was being debated in the other place [the House of Lords], this was not part of the original devolution settlement.
“Our approach also helps to ensure the continued integrity of the UK market, which is so vital to the people and businesses of Scotland.
“At every stage, the SNP has disregarded the need to preserve this market and to ensure that there are no new barriers to working or doing business in the UK.
“The UK internal market is worth over four times more to businesses in Scotland than EU trade, and we must make sure that it is preserved as we leave the EU.
“We have reached a point now where, as the Welsh Labour government have clearly stated, these arrangements reflect and respect how the devolution settlements operate.
“The devolved legislatures will have a formal role in considering where existing frameworks need to be temporarily preserved. That is what we have delivered.
“However, Scotland has two democratically elected parliaments, and it is only this parliament, the UK Parliament, that can speak for the UK as a whole.
He added: “We are now faced with the reality that the Scottish Parliament has not given consent for this critically important legislation that provides certainty across the UK.
“That is not a situation that any of us would have chosen. It is not however a crisis, nor is it unforeseen.
"While devolution settlements did not predict EU exit, it did explicitly provide that in situations of disagreement, that the UK parliament may be required to legislate without the consent of devolved legislatures."
SNP MP Tommy Sheppard took issue with the claim that the Scottish Parliament was seeking to veto UK-wide legislation, saying it wanted make agreements in partnership with the UK Government.
However, the Scottish secretary responded: “Scotland is not a partner of the United Kingdom; Scotland is part of the United Kingdom”
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