A FORMER environment secretary who kicked off the debate on launching a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland has condemed "aggressive" interference from the UK Government which has put the initiative at risk.
Richard Lochhead, now business minister, began looking at the feasibility of a scheme 10 years ago when he was secretary for rural affairs, food and environment - a positon he held for almost a decade.
But the DRS - which is due to launch in March next year - is now facing an uncertain future after the UK Government said it would only hand Scotland an exemption from the Internal Market Act if the scheme excluded glass.
Scotland had to seek an exemption from the post-Brexit legislation because it wanted to bring in a scheme sooner than other parts of the UK.
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Lochhead said the whole episode had made him "sad" when the scheme from the outset had "huge public support".
On a visit to Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging in Glasgow on Friday, he told The National: "I’m very sad about what’s been happening [with the DRS] because as a previous environment secretary, I kicked off the debate over the role a DRS could play in Scotland.
"It had huge public support and support from the business community and here we are, a few years later, and it’s become a big political battleground.
"We have the UK Government, for what I suspect are political reasons, interfering in devolution and the Scottish Parliament’s decisions and now leaving the Scottish Government clearly having to consider the road ahead given the conditions the UK Government have laid down.
"It is very sad the journey we’ve been forced to take due to [the UK Government].
"It seems like every single issue now that comes into the public domain turns into a big political fight, irrespective of what’s good for the country and the environment. I think we have to have a lot of reflection."
Circular economy minister Lorna Slater said earlier this week she believed devolution was under "sustained attack" and accused Scottish Secretary Alister Jack of being more interested in "torpedoing Scotland's parliament than he is in protecting Scotland's environment".
Glass was a key part of the Scottish scheme and Slater called on the UK Government to demonstrate how it will put in place a UK scheme Scotland can align with instead of leaving ministers to examine whether the "deliberate sabotage leaves us something we can make work".
Asked how important glass was to the scheme, Lochhead said: "As the minister [Slater] laid out, glass has always been seen as essential to the scheme and we’re not the only country in the UK even taking that view. That's why it’s ironic this has been laid down by the UK Government.
"Any of us in our own communities can see glass lying around and bottles discarded. It’s not just plastic bottles and that’s why glass was included.
"Of course, we have to work with business to make this work but right now we’re in the situation we are in because of the UK Government’s approach to devolution and wanting to frustrate it at every opportunity.
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"The UK Government’s interference with DRS is just the latest in a long line of interfering by Tory ministers. We’ve experienced this in the last few years. It shows we have a politically-motivated UK Government just now that’s very aggressive towards the Scottish Parliament."
On Thursday, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford met with Humza Yousaf to discuss the "urgent" need for the UK Government to end repeated breaches of the Sewel Convention, which says that the Westminster government will “not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the Northern Ireland Assembly.”.
The FMs urged the UK Government to consistently respect devolution and live up to the principles of mutual respect, trust, effective communication and accountability, as set out in the Inter-Governmental Relations Review.
Wales has also included glass in its proposed scheme due to launch in 2025 and Slater said earlier in the week she expected they would run into the same issues Scotland has with the Internal Market Act when it comes to applying for an exemption.
Drakeford has said he would dispute the use of the Internal Market Act to stop the Scottish Government including glass.
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