BORIS Johnson has signalled that he is set to ignore Holyrood in the bid to get his Brexit Bill passed into law.
In a startling admission in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said the Scottish Parliament would have “no role” in approving the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
But the Bill itself says that it will legislate in 17 devolved areas.
The Scottish Government believe that the WAB actually legislates in another 44 devolved areas.
Under the Sewel Convention, the UK Parliament does not “normally” legislate in devolved areas without the Scottish Parliament’s consent.
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Ministers in Edinburgh have urged MSPs to withhold that consent.
MPs in the Commons backed the WAB at its second reading on Tuesday night, however they rebuffed the Tory chief’s attempt to fast-track the legislation in just three days. Johnson responded by “pausing” the Bill.
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, asked Johnson to “stop ignoring Scotland and confirm that he will not allow this legislation to pass unless consent is given by the Scottish Parliament”.
Johnson said he noted “very carefully” what Blackford has said but insisted that the “Scottish Parliament has no role in approving this”.
He added: “On the contrary, it is up to the members of this parliament to approve the deal. I’m delighted to say they did. It didn’t proceed with the support of many Scottish nationalists, or any of them, if he really still disagrees with this deal and if he disagrees about the way forward then can I propose that he has a word with opposition parties and he joins our support for a general election to settle the matter.”
Blackford added: “well there we have it, the legal consent that the Scottish Parliament is asked is meaningless in the Prime Minister’s eyes. So much for The Respect Agenda. so much for the message in 2014 that we were to lead the United Kingdom, that this was a kingdom of equals.”
Blackford said it was hard for people in Scotland to trust a PM: “Fired twice for lying, found unlawful by the courts, the Prime Minister has sold Scotland out time and time again.”
The SNP leader said if Johnson wanted an election, all he had to do was “secure a meaningful extension” from the EU.
Johnson called Blackford support for a vote, an “exciting development” and asked the SNP politician to “pass some of his courage” down to Jeremy Corbyn.
“On the point that he raises about our commitment to the Union, he should know that thanks to Scotland’s membership of the Union, Scotland, this year, receives the biggest ever block grant, £1.2 billion.
“£200 million more secured for Scottish farming thanks to the hard work of Scottish Conservative MPs. And who is letting down Scotland? It is the SNP with their lackadaisical government.,the highest taxes anywhere in the UK, declining education, low standards in healthcare, and a European policy that would take Scotland back into the EU and hand back control of Scotland’s fish to Brussels.
“If that’s their manifesto then I look forward to contesting it with them at the polls.”
SNP, Labour, Lib Dem, and Green MSPs are all likely to vote to refuse consent. That could mean Westminster imposing legislation for only the second time in Holyrood’s 20 year history.
Last year, despite no Holyrood consent for Theresa May’s European Withdrawal Bill, it was passed by MPs.
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Earlier this week, in a letter to Tory Brexit minister James Duddridge, Scottish Brexit Secretary Michael Russell said the WAB was “one of the most important pieces of legislation ever to be considered by the UK and Scottish Parliaments as the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement involves a fundamental adjustment to the constitution of our nations.
“It is essential that it should receive scrutiny in all of the UK’s legislatures, that there should be the proper opportunity for civil society to consider it and for citizens to understand its meaning and significance.”
Tory constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins claimed the SNP were trying to “to drive up grievance and resentment”.
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