The UK Government brought nothing new to the table at today's meeting with Scottish ministers, Mike Russell has claimed.
The Brexit Minister was left frustrated by another round of talks between Westminster and Holyrood which ended with the UK refusing to back down on a power grab which the SNP say is an "attack on the devolution settlement".
Russell said the Scottish and Welsh Governments had made a offer of their own with which they hoped to be able to break the deadlock, but their UK counterparts had failed to bring forward ANY proposal of their own.
Consitutional crisis between to the two parliaments is looming, over the repatriation of powers which currently sit with Brussels but will be returning when Britain leaves the EU.
There are 111 powers and responsibilities in devolved areas due to come back, and the UK Government, in clause 11 of their EU Withdrawal Bill, initially called for all those powers to go straight to Whitehall for ministers to decide what should be given to MSPs and what should be kept in national frameworks.
This was described by Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart Carwyn Jones as a “power grab”. Though there has since been some agreement between the governments on around 86 powers, there is still no consensus on the remaining 25.
The UK Government believes these 25 should operate on a UK-wide basis, with the Scottish Government being consulted on changes.
The Scottish Government, however, say they should be asked to agree to changes and have introduced their own Continuity Bill to protect the devolution settlement.
Speaking after the meeting today, Russell said he was determined to protect the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
He said: "It was deeply disappointing that the UK Government did not bring forward any new proposal today and are pressing ahead with a bill that, even with their proposed amendment, would allow them to unilaterally take control of devolved powers without the agreement of the Scottish Parliament.
“In contrast, in our effort to secure an agreement, the Scottish and Welsh Governments have made another offer to the UK Government today. We are clear that the EU Withdrawal Bill must be amended so that the devolution settlement cannot be changed without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
“That is why we said to the UK Government that if we can agree the areas where UK-wide legislative frameworks may be required after Brexit and if it is also agreed that consent to the necessary parliamentary orders will be required from the Scottish Parliament in each case, then we would take steps to reassure the UK Government that Scotland would not unreasonably withhold that consent.
“With regard to the list of powers, it is completely unacceptable that the UK Government said at the meeting today they have drawn up a new list of powers, including ones they say are reserved, that had not previously been shared or discussed with the Scottish or Welsh Governments.
"We have not agreed this list but in the interests of transparency we do not object to it being published – but that is for the UK Government, as it is their document. It now seems that the UK Government has admitted it is struggling to counter the charge that they are conducting a power grab on the Scottish Parliament – and no wonder.
“Devolved powers covering farming, fishing, the environment and a range of other areas are at risk. But let's be clear: the EU Withdrawal Bill allows the UK Government to take control of any devolved power, regardless of any list produced today.
"Right now we are being asked to sign away the Parliament’s powers with no idea of how UK-wide frameworks will work, how they will be governed and how we will go from the temporary restrictions the UK Government wants to agreeing longer term solutions. We can't allow that to happen.
“We continue to want an agreed solution and to be able to recommend consent to the Scottish Parliament – however without further movement by the UK Government we will press ahead with our EU Continuity Bill, which received overwhelming backing across the Scottish Parliament yesterday."
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