DAVID Mundell has confirmed that the UK Government is now preparing to legislate on Brexit without the consent of Holyrood.

Both the SNP and Scottish Labour called on the Tory Secretary of State to resign for “shafting” Scotland.

Mundell told MPs that while the Scotland Act could have not predicted Brexit, it did “explicitly provide that in, situations of disagreement, the UK Parliament may be required to legislate without the consent of the devolved legislature.”

The Tory minister insisted the Government was respecting devolution and the Sewel Convention, which says Westminster won’t legislate on devolved competencies without Holyrood’s permission.

Mundell said: “We on this side of the House have compromised, we have made every effort to reach agreement. We have sought consent.

“Now, we are legislating in line with the Sewel Convention to ensure the whole of the United Kingdom leaves the EU with as much legal certainty as possible. That’s what people and businesses in Scotland need.”

He added that the Sewel Convention was not absolute: “The situation is that the Government will seek consent unless there are not normal circumstances applying – I think anyone would accept the UK leaving the EU are not normal circumstances.”

Scottish Government Brexit Secretary Michael Russell said he was concerned by Mundell’s statement: “The Secretary of State now says that Westminster can override the Scottish Parliament simply if that agreement is not forthcoming. In one statement he has removed the constitutional rules that protect the Scottish Parliament and secure its powers and responsibilities within the UK.”

In the Commons, Blackford, claimed Mundell had “downgraded devolution”.

“The Secretary of State has failed to protect devolution, failed to protect the Scottish Parliament, failed to protect Scottish interests.

“Having plunged Scotland into constitutional crisis, will he finally do the right thing if he has any dignity, if he has any self-respect, and resign and do it now?”

Labour’s shadow Scottish minister Paul Sweeney was also critical of Mundell. He said: “If there is no agreement between the Scottish and UK governments, will he resign?

“Because it’s very clear that he does not have either the confidence, leadership or ability to fix this matter of critical importance to the future of our country.”

Mundell said his only regret was to see the “once proud” Scottish Labour Party move on to “nationalist territory”.

He later infuriated the SNP benches when he said Scotland was “not a partner of the United Kingdom; Scotland is part of the United Kingdom.”

In Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon said that this week in Parliament has proved “that the Westminster system simply does not work” for people north of the Border. She told MSPs that 5085 people had “expressed their anger by joining the SNP”.