Law Society Confirms Tory Devolution Power Grab
LAW SOCIETY CONFIRMS TORY DEVOLUTION POWER GRAB
The EU Withdrawal Bill will remove powers from the Scottish Parliament and erode human rights, the Law Society of Scotland has warned.
Despite promising a “powers bonanza” for the Scottish Parliament, David Mundell was once again this morning unable to name a single new power that would come to Holyrood under the Tories’ plans, during an interview on Good Morning Scotland.
Graham Matthews, President of the Law Society, has said that the draft legislation is “complex, difficult to interpret and lacking in clarity”.
He continued: “The effect of the bill would be to remove the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in relation to any matter in retained EU law. This would be the case even if it related to areas of law not reserved to the UK under the Scotland Act, such as agriculture or fisheries.”
The Law Society warning confirms what the SNP and others have said consistently about the proposals in the UK Government’s EU Withdrawal Bill.
Patricia Gibson MP commented:
“This warning – from the independent Law Society of Scotland – is expert confirmation that the Tories are planning to strip the Scottish Parliament of powers, fundamentally undermining the devolution settlement people voted for.
“The Leave campaign promised that Brexit would mean Scotland would automatically get ‘major’ new powers – but the Tories’ plans make a mockery of that claim.
“Now the Scottish Secretary can’t name a single power that will come to Holyrood, despite himself saying that there would be a ‘powers bonanza’.
“We cannot and will not let the Tories use Brexit as a smokescreen for a power grab that will leave Scotland worse off.
“Almost exactly 20 years ago the people of Scotland voted for a devolution settlement which the Tories are now trying to rip up in the hope no one will notice. They will not get away with it.”
Brexit 'would lead to more Scottish powers', leave campaign says
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35965518
