Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 05 October 2021
We regularly engage with the UK Government, and I assure the member that we try repeatedly to get action on these matters—[Interruption.] No, not one letter; repeated meetings—but I thank the member for the intervention.
The Scottish Government has made clear our commitment to maintain or exceed environmental standards following EU exit. It is important to note that the UK Government has not made an equivalent commitment.
It appears from Donald Cameron’s speech that he would be content that we pass responsibility to the UK Government for any and all aspects, but is that a surprise? His party was the architect of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, which this Parliament rejected and which will severely constrain this Parliament’s ability to deliver progress on the environment in Scotland.
The UK Government is playing fast and loose with the purpose test, and it is trampling arbitrarily on the legislative competence of this Parliament. Therefore, it is imperative that we take every opportunity to urge the UK Government to reconsider and reframe.
I am sorry that members are so inconvenienced by our taking 40 minutes out of their afternoon to defend the powers of this Parliament, which the people of Scotland elected them to serve in. The First Minister’s letter to the Prime Minister of 14 May 2021 made it clear that resolving issues of encroachment into devolved competence is an important test for the UK Government. Resolving the issues with the bill would demonstrate the UK Government’s willingness to step back from an approach that increasingly appears to be designed to unlawfully take power and decision making from this Parliament.
It is high time that the UK Government started to listen to such concerns. I ask members to support the motion to preserve this Parliament’s environmental powers and to respect the will of the Scottish people, whom members were elected to represent in the chamber, as I said.