SCOTLAND’S Brexit Secretary has accused Alister Jack of causing “great harm” by making “false assertions” about the true impact of controversial Brexit legislation.

Michael Russell has rejected a series of assertions made by the Secretary of State for Scotland on the UK Internal Market Bill and described it as a “naked power grab”.

He has written in response to a letter sent by Jack to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week, which alleged she had made “false claims” over the controversial legislation.

But Russell said it is the document from Jack which contains “a number of false assertions” about the Internal Market Bill.

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“It does great harm to businesses, consumers and citizens to misrepresent the bill’s true impact as your letter does,” he said.

“Given the UK Government’s desire to rush the bill through Parliament, allowing minimal opportunity for scrutiny, I want to put the record straight.”

The UK Internal Market Bill has sparked a huge backlash over proposals such as giving Westminster a say over infrastructure projects across the UK and a requirement for regulatory standards for goods to be the same across all four devolved nations.

Numerous organisations have raised concerns, including the National Farmers Union of Scotland, Food Standards Scotland and coalition Scottish Environment LINK.

In his letter, Jack claimed it is “emphatically not the case” that the bill will lead to a "race to the bottom" in food standards and environmental protections. But Russell said the UK Government has blocked every move to provide legal guarantees to ensure standards would be maintained.

“You personally, along with your colleagues, voted against a cross-party amendment to the UK Agriculture Bill which would have ensured sub-standard food could not be imported into the UK in any future trade deals,” he said.

“I would be grateful if you could explain why your Government has so far resisted any moves to make legally binding commitments that would provide assurances to consumers and businesses across Scotland and the UK.”

Russell also disputed a claim that the UK Government’s spending powers set out in the bill will “complement existing Scottish Government spending powers”.

“As it stands the bill would also allow the UK Government to bypass devolution in allocating money in devolved areas in Scotland without the oversight or consent of the Scottish Parliament and ministers,” he said.

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“As we approach an economically disastrous no-deal Brexit – or a low-deal Brexit that will be little better – in the teeth of a global pandemic and the worst recession in centuries, what binding assurance can we have that UK Ministers will not seek to bypass the scrutiny of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish ministers in deciding where and how funding is allocated in future?”

Finance ministers from the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff met last week to voice their collective concerns about the "power grab".

Last week Jack told MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee the UK Government will press ahead with the bill, even if Holyrood refuses to grant formal consent for it.

“The weight of academic and expert opinion on this issue is overwhelming,” Russell said.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “Mr Russell’s response is extremely disappointing. The Scottish Government has a responsibility to ensure the people of Scotland are not misled.”