SCOTLAND will only be handed new powers following “mature discussions” with Westminster, Ruth Davidson has said.
The Scottish Conservative leader confirmed powers repatriated from Brussels will be handed to Westminster first, and the UK Government will decide how they should be distributed around the country.
Ms Davidson also reaffirmed Westminster’s exclusive right to permit referendums, insisting there is no appetite for this power to be permanently devolved to Holyrood.
READ MORE: SNP's Economy Secretary Keith Brown accused of using trade trip to 'talk up independence'
The SNP has pressed Theresa May for a guarantee that any EU powers
related to devolved matters, such as fishing and farming, should automatically revert to Holyrood.
But Ms Davidson told BBC Sunday Politics Scotland: “More powers
will come, but in the first instance powers currently held by Brussels go
back to the member state, and then mature discussions can happen about how they can best be (devolved) around the country.”
Nicola Sturgeon is also tentatively preparing a second independence referendum, with many in the nationalist grassroots anticipating an announcement at the SNP conference in Aberdeen this month.
But a new poll by BMG Research shows little support for a second referendum, with 51 per cent against a re-run before 2019.
Some analysts have predicted the SNP will instead call for further enabling legislation, such as the temporary power to hold a second referendum similar to the Edinburgh Agreement or even full devolution.
Ms Davidson said the Prime Minister recognises the “right to Scottish self-determination”, but that the current situation is different to 2011 when the SNP won a majority in parliament on a clear commitment to hold a referendum.
She said: “At the moment, when [Sturgeon] has no clear mandate, when she lost her majority, and the majority of Scots are saying they don’t want it, they shouldn’t have another referendum.”
Ms Davidson added: “The power for holding referendums is held at Westminster, so in terms of were a hypothetical, some time in the future, referendum to happen you would still need the process that happened last time around, which is an agreement between the two governments for those powers to pass over.
“If she wants to change that she should have put that forward as an idea in the Smith Commission.
READ MORE: SNP's Economy Secretary Keith Brown accused of using trade trip to 'talk up independence'
“She didn’t, and neither did her party, say that the Scottish Parliament should be in charge of a future referendum, so I don’t think she can argue that now.”
A spokesman for Scotland’s Brexit Minister Michael Russell said: “We have a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum if that is the chosen route to protect our vital national interests. Ruth Davidson is apologist-in-chief for a Westminster Tory Government threatening to drag Scotland over the cliff edge of an economically catastrophic hard Brexit.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel