| 發表文章 | 發起投票 |
【衛報】Brexit後蘇格蘭有咩權？其首相施壓
2017-08-09 00:00:00[/size=2]
The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/09/scottish-ministers-press-damian-green-for-return-of-powers-from-eu[/size=2][/center]
F[/size=6]irst secretary of state expected to face tough bargaining in Edinburgh talks over issues including farming, fisheries and police
Scottish ministers are to seek significant concessions over Brexit from Damian Green, the first secretary of state, after again threatening to withhold consent for the EU repeal bill.
Green is in Edinburgh on Wednesday for a meeting with Mike Russell, Scotland’s Brexit minister, and John Swinney, the deputy first minister, to discuss which powers Scotland will gain after the UK quits the EU.
Russell and Swinney will tell Green that the Scottish government expects full powers over farming, fisheries, environmental law, justice and policing – areas currently controlled or influenced by the EU and likely to involve hundreds of millions of pounds of extra spending for Holyrood.
The Scottish and Welsh governments are furious that the draft European Union (withdrawal) bill, published in July, implies Westminster will take direct control over the vast majority of EU powers instead of sharing them with the UK’s devolved administrations.
Government to release key Brexit policy papers in next few weeks Read more
UK ministers have also predicted that a final deal on new powers and budgets for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments will only start in earnest after the UK has left the EU and will take several years to finalise, pushing that process into the 2020s.
In a statement issued before the meeting, Russell renewed the Scottish government’s ultimatum to withhold legislative consent for that bill unless UK ministers gave ground. “The bill – as it currently stands – means that Westminster would take exclusive control over significant areas of devolved policy, such as support for Scotland’s farmers and food producers and many aspects of environmental protection and control of our seas,” he said.
“We know that the UK government has its eye on more than 100 policy areas. That is a direct threat to the devolution settlement which the people of Scotland overwhelmingly voted for in 1997.”
Green will be accompanied by the Scottish secretary, David Mundell. In his advance statement, Green insisted he was keen for early progress on a deal and indicated that some new powers could be identified quickly.
Calling for open and positive dialogue, Green said: “In some areas there will need to be a common approach. There will be other areas where I intend that the Scottish and UK governments can make progress in identifying policy areas that could be released to Holyrood under the new legislative arrangements.
“We expect there will be a significant increase in the decision-making power of each devolved administration and we want to address this in a way which delivers certainty and continuity for people and businesses across the UK.”
The three ‘whats’ of leaving the EU – Brexit Means podcast Read more
Green is expected to take a conciliatory tone with Swinney and Russell to avoid a long-running and damaging political battle over the repeal bill, but both governments are now weaker than before the June general election.
The minority Tory government at Westminster is heavily dependent on compromises with opposition parties to build the consensus it needs to win key votes on Brexit, in part to strengthen its negotiating hand with the EU and its member states.
For its part, the Scottish government’s stance was undermined by the Scottish National party’s poorer-than-expected election result in June, where it lost 21 MPs in a voter backlash largely fuelled by the SNP’s attempt to link Brexit with a second independence referendum.
Although Holyrood could withhold its legislative consent to the repeal bill, causing a major political crisis at a highly sensitive time for the UK government, it cannot legally prevent Westminster from passing it. That bill will include critically important legal measures affecting Holyrood.
As a result, the Scottish government will be under intense legal and political pressure to ensure all Scotland’s separate laws and policies are updated before the UK leaves the EU.
[#e876c8][right]This post is generated by auto-bot.[/right][/size=2][/#e876c8]
The Guardian
F[/size=6]irst secretary of state expected to face tough bargaining in Edinburgh talks over issues including farming, fisheries and police
Scottish ministers are to seek significant concessions over Brexit from Damian Green, the first secretary of state, after again threatening to withhold consent for the EU repeal bill.
Green is in Edinburgh on Wednesday for a meeting with Mike Russell, Scotland’s Brexit minister, and John Swinney, the deputy first minister, to discuss which powers Scotland will gain after the UK quits the EU.
Russell and Swinney will tell Green that the Scottish government expects full powers over farming, fisheries, environmental law, justice and policing – areas currently controlled or influenced by the EU and likely to involve hundreds of millions of pounds of extra spending for Holyrood.
The Scottish and Welsh governments are furious that the draft European Union (withdrawal) bill, published in July, implies Westminster will take direct control over the vast majority of EU powers instead of sharing them with the UK’s devolved administrations.
Government to release key Brexit policy papers in next few weeks Read more
UK ministers have also predicted that a final deal on new powers and budgets for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments will only start in earnest after the UK has left the EU and will take several years to finalise, pushing that process into the 2020s.
In a statement issued before the meeting, Russell renewed the Scottish government’s ultimatum to withhold legislative consent for that bill unless UK ministers gave ground. “The bill – as it currently stands – means that Westminster would take exclusive control over significant areas of devolved policy, such as support for Scotland’s farmers and food producers and many aspects of environmental protection and control of our seas,” he said.
“We know that the UK government has its eye on more than 100 policy areas. That is a direct threat to the devolution settlement which the people of Scotland overwhelmingly voted for in 1997.”
Green will be accompanied by the Scottish secretary, David Mundell. In his advance statement, Green insisted he was keen for early progress on a deal and indicated that some new powers could be identified quickly.
Calling for open and positive dialogue, Green said: “In some areas there will need to be a common approach. There will be other areas where I intend that the Scottish and UK governments can make progress in identifying policy areas that could be released to Holyrood under the new legislative arrangements.
“We expect there will be a significant increase in the decision-making power of each devolved administration and we want to address this in a way which delivers certainty and continuity for people and businesses across the UK.”
The three ‘whats’ of leaving the EU – Brexit Means podcast Read more
Green is expected to take a conciliatory tone with Swinney and Russell to avoid a long-running and damaging political battle over the repeal bill, but both governments are now weaker than before the June general election.
The minority Tory government at Westminster is heavily dependent on compromises with opposition parties to build the consensus it needs to win key votes on Brexit, in part to strengthen its negotiating hand with the EU and its member states.
For its part, the Scottish government’s stance was undermined by the Scottish National party’s poorer-than-expected election result in June, where it lost 21 MPs in a voter backlash largely fuelled by the SNP’s attempt to link Brexit with a second independence referendum.
Although Holyrood could withhold its legislative consent to the repeal bill, causing a major political crisis at a highly sensitive time for the UK government, it cannot legally prevent Westminster from passing it. That bill will include critically important legal measures affecting Holyrood.
As a result, the Scottish government will be under intense legal and political pressure to ensure all Scotland’s separate laws and policies are updated before the UK leaves the EU.
[#e876c8][right]This post is generated by auto-bot.[/right][/size=2][/#e876c8]
0
0本貼文共有 0 個回覆
此貼文已鎖，將不接受回覆
| 發表文章 | 發起投票 |