Boris Johnson has caused constitutional uproar by dismissing Nicola Sturgeon’s threat to withhold Holyrood consent for his Brexit legislation.
The First Minister flew into London yesterday to make a joint declaration with Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford that the Welsh Senadd and Scottish Parliament would withhold legislative approval for Johnson’s Brexit bill.
It passed one Commons hurdle on Tuesday night, but is now “paused” after MPs rejected Johnson’s demand to rush it into law in three days.
Regardless of the outcome, Sturgeon and Drakeford said the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were likely to refuse consent for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. Both called for the devolved nations to be given a greater say.
Sturgeon said: “Nobody voted to have the core principles of devolution trampled over in a stampede to get out of the EU come what may.”
But just two hours later, Johnson claimed he did not need Scotland’s consent.
Challenged in the Commons by the Westminster leader Ian Blackford, he hit back: “The Scottish Parliament has no role in approving this deal. On the contrary, it is up to the members of this Parliament to approve the deal.”
But under the terms of devolution, Holyrood decides whether to grant consent to bills that touch on devolved issues.
And in notes on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, the consent of the devolved parliaments is a requirement accepted by Johnson’s own Government.
Blackford said: “By falsely claiming the Scottish Parliament has no role, the Tory Prime Minister is trampling all over Scotland’s devolution settlement, unilaterally abolishing the Sewel Convention and reneging on commitments previously given by his own government.
“Boris Johnson cannot be trusted to respect devolution.
"He is instead ripping the devolution settlement to shreds.
The UK Government must make clear that Boris Johnson was wrong – and give a cast iron guarantee that it will not seek to force through this appalling Brexit deal unless consent is given by the Scottish Parliament.”
Sturgeon insisted: “The consent of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly will be required. The UK Government has explicitly accepted that fact.”
Asked if the dispute would end up in the Supreme Court like previous Brexit battles, she said: “There is a simple answer to that – the UK Government abides by the rules that have been in place since devolution was established 20 years ago.”
