Meeting of the Parliament 07 February 2017
I am happy to speak in today’s debate on the triggering of article 50 and to move the amendment in my name. But, Presiding Officer, I am somewhat surprised that we do not have a legislative consent motion to vote on. It is a surprise, because, less than two weeks ago, the Brexit minister—Mr Russell—promised us all that he would publish one. In fact, he was so sure that he told this Parliament that there was no doubt that the legislation enabling the UK Government to trigger article 50 would require this Parliament’s formal approval.
Could it be that the Brexit minister was wrong? Moreover, could it be that my colleague, Professor Adam Tomkins, was indeed correct in saying that the process for triggering article 50 is a reserved matter? Could it be that the Scottish Government has not submitted an LCM because it knows that it is outwith the competence of this Parliament, despite all its grandstanding in the past few weeks?
That is an important point, because it shows that the Scottish Government’s default position is to try to manufacture a grievance out of nothing. The Scottish Government tried to portray the Supreme Court ruling and the UK Government’s bill to trigger article 50 as an example of Scotland being ignored, when the truth is simpler: it is a matter for Scotland’s other Parliament to deal with and it is—as a reserved matter—one for Scotland’s Members of Parliament to scrutinise.
It is important to record that all that the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill does is allow the UK Government to start the process of our leaving the EU. As the Scottish Government’s motion alludes to, elected representatives from Scotland are currently debating and voting on that bill at Westminster. They will debate and vote on the great repeal bill and other legislation to implement our exit from the EU. When legislation affects devolved powers, the Scottish Parliament will, of course, get to debate and vote on those matters. That is how the devolution settlement works. It is time that the Scottish National Party accepted that principle and moved on from grievance politics.
Despite the Scottish Government’s rhetoric, the reality is that it is being given plenty of opportunity to engage in the process of the UK leaving the EU. The Prime Minister has already chaired two meetings of the plenary joint ministerial committee and has established a separate joint ministerial committee on the European Union negotiations, which has met on a monthly basis since November. Theresa May’s first visit as Prime Minister was to Scotland to meet the First Minister, so it is clear that the Prime Minister has tried to give the Scottish Government every opportunity to engage in the process.
In response, we have a First Minister and a Scottish Government that are always unhappy after every meeting and are refusing to engage constructively. The Scottish Government’s motion is further evidence of its grievance politics. It completely ignores the creation of the JMC for EU negotiations and the detail that is contained in the UK Government’s white paper. The motion also attempts to blame the UK Government for the deadline for negotiations after article 50 is triggered.
On the serious issue of the rights of EU nationals who are living in the UK, the UK Government has said that it wants to reach a mutual agreement with the EU at the earliest opportunity. Meanwhile, the SNP is trying to use the issue for its grievance agenda. In the run up to the independence referendum, the Scottish National Party Government was threatening EU nationals’ right to remain in Scotland. The SNP back-bench members might not like it, but the First Minister’s words are on the record. In 2014, the then Deputy First Minister said:
“We have set down a robust and common sense position. There are 160,000 EU nationals from other states living in Scotland, including some in the Commonwealth Games city of Glasgow. If Scotland was outside Europe they would lose the right to stay here.”
Those are not my words but the words of Nicola Sturgeon.