There is one thing that would absolutely guarantee that the United Kingdom could not make success of Brexit, the break-up of the Union. The immediate danger of that happening has receded. The SNP lost ground in the general election and Nicola Sturgeon now talks about independence far less than she once did. But, as I say in the politics column in this week’s magazine, if Brexit is mishandled this could change.
This is why the EU withdrawal bill, which is currently paused as the whips work out how to get it through, must be changed. Clause 11 of the bill can be seen as an attempt to claim back previously devolved powers. This would allow the SNP to claim, with some justification, that Brexit looks like a London power grab. It would pave the way for the Scottish Parliament denying the bill legislative consent.
It’d be far better for the UK government to be explicit that the overwhelming majority of the 111 powers in devolved areas will be going to Holyrood when they come back from Brussels.
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