UK Trade Arrangements: Scotland’s Role

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 25 September 2018.

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Photo of Adam Tomkins Adam Tomkins Conservative

I fear that I do not have time.

Of course, this is the paper of a Scottish National Party Government, so it does not respect the boundaries of devolved competence at all. Rather than being based on the division of powers and responsibilities that are set out in the Scotland Act 1998, it takes a wrecking ball to that piece of legislation.

For example, page 5 of the document says:

“The conduct and content of future trade policy, negotiations and agreements … have very important implications for Scotland, and it is vital that the Scottish Government is fully involved in the process for determining them.”

That is a nationalist power grab, asserting, as it does, that the Scottish Government must be fully involved in the processes for determining policy that is expressly reserved to Westminster. Worse, not merely content with trampling over reserved competence, the SNP is demanding a series of five vetoes over the exercise by UK ministers of their powers.