FORMER UK Labour cabinet minister Andrew Adonis says that the Tory government’s Brexit bill is a “land grab of epic proportions” from Scotland.
Adonis, an influential Labour peer, said that “Britain is appallingly economically and politically imbalanced”.
After the transfer of powers from Brussels to Whitehall and Westminster, London will take charge of policy areas traditionally devolved to Holyrood.
The SNP has said that means demolishing the principle at the heart of the devolution settlement by giving Westminster the final say on many devolved policy areas, and Adonis warned that the UK Government's plans showed how "centralised" Britain would become after leaving the EU.
The former UK transport secretary said: “Powers that were devolved to Holyrood and Cardiff, via the EU, are being seized by central government.
"It is a land grab of epic proportions and demonstrates just how centralised this country will become after Brexit.”
Adonis added: "The truth is that Britain is appallingly economically and politically imbalanced.
"This was one of the causes of the Brexit vote and, ironically, it will get worse if Brexit happens."
The UK wants to retain control over 24 devolved areas, most related to agriculture, fisheries and the environment, for up to seven years.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford welcomed the intervention from Adonis.
Blackford said: ''There can be no business as usual whilst the power grab is in place, powers removed from the Scottish Parliament, undermining devolution.
"The UK Government must bring forward legislation that respects devolution, the Scottish Parliament and the people of Scotland.''
However, in response a UK Government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to securing a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom.
"The outcome of leaving the EU will be a significant increase in the decision making power of each devolved administration."
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