Meeting of the Parliament 24 September 2019
With the UK set to leave the European Union at the end of October, I am grateful that the Finance and Constitution Committee has the opportunity today to speak in the chamber about its conclusions and recommendations in its most recent report. I note that the Scottish Conservatives are the only party to support many new powers coming back to the Scottish Parliament; every other party in here would prefer those powers to remain under the control of the European Union. I am delighted that this Parliament will be strengthened with a wealth of new powers, and I hope that this and future Scottish Governments will take advantage of the opportunities that they will provide.
As the MSP for a constituency that covers sectors from oil to farming, I am keen to ensure that common frameworks will facilitate a positive transition for all businesses, no matter what they may be. At this point, I ask members to note my entry in the register of members’ interests, which may be affected by common frameworks. As NFU Scotland says,
“it is imperative that the effective functioning of the UK single market is maintained, and therefore regulatory differences must be limited.”
It is important to note that the UK Government is seeking to ensure that the Scottish Parliament is one of the world’s most powerful devolved legislatures. With the launch of a review to improve the functioning of the devolved settlement, an increase in the Scottish Government’s budget of more than £500 million in real terms and new powers already having been passed to Scotland for welfare, oil and gas and taxation, it is clear that the UK Government is doing its utmost to deliver that.
However, it is disappointing, although unsurprising, that the SNP Government continues to try to negate those positive moves with actions such as the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill. The bill only created a waste of valuable parliamentary time when crucial health legislation was delayed to accommodate it. I have no doubt that it will have frustrated my constituents to know that we were forced to waste precious hours on a bill that was ruled as “incompetent” by the Supreme Court, yet the SNP is still trying to resurrect the continuity bill in its most recent programme for government. In fact, the SNP is still trying to hand powers back to the European Union through the bill. For a party that pleads to voters to become independent, it baffles many that it is so keen to hand power back to an institution of whose elected members our MEPs constitute less than 1 per cent.
We must take advantage of the fact that the Scottish Parliament will gain powers in areas such as forestry and carbon capture—industries that many of my constituents work in and depend on. By taking advantage of those powers we can ensure that our laws have as positive an impact as possible on our constituents’ livelihoods and businesses.
It should not be mistaken that the UK Government has presumed devolution for the powers returning from the EU. The SNP’s own MPs have admitted that, with Pete Wishart stating that “nobody” has claimed that powers were being removed from the Scottish Parliament. The UK Government is not seeking to take any powers away from the Scottish Parliament. It wants to ensure that, while frameworks are being agreed, there is the presumption that powers returning from the EU sit at a devolved level.
That is because, as I mentioned earlier, frameworks are vital in order to protect the UK single market. Our UK single market is three times more important to Scotland than the EU single market. Scottish exports to the UK are worth nearly £50 billion, against just under £15 billion to the EU. We must build and strengthen that market.
The SNP should be mindful of its hypocrisy when stating that, when the powers are temporarily held at Westminster, it is an “outrage”, yet when the same powers are permanently held in Brussels, it is “pooled sovereignty”. We should take advantage of those restored powers for Scotland. I look forward to working with members in the committee in order to maximise the opportunities ahead.
16:04