Nicola Sturgeon’s mini Waterloo, incompetent SNP leader sees defeat looming as UK government challenges Sturgeon’s devolved Brexit legislation at UK Supreme Court, sacked SNP Education Minister Mike Russell thinks because 95 MSP sheep at Holyrood passed it, it’s legal, watch, learn and be educated son, it’s not, stupidity is a poor substitute for intelligence

Dear All

If you are going to fight a war, you should always make sure that you are in the right, and have the necessary resources, pre-plan and have experienced people to carry it through.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has entered a pointless fight with the UK government which has led them to challenge her “devolved” Brexit legislation. The matter has been referred to the UK Supreme Court, so what are the chances of success for the SNP Government?

I would say, looking at their previous track record, the chances look from remote to nil on this occasion, for me there are two issues which will see the SNP lose.

1/ Until we leave the EU, all relevant sections of power remain reserved to Westminster.

2/ The SNP Government cannot circumvent powers returned to the UK from Brussels without them first passing through Westminster.

Either one of these issues in my opinion should see the SNP lose.

It is entirely right and proper that the UK Government should challenge Brexit legislation passed by the Scottish and Welsh devolved administrations. The Bills passed in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly last month was nothing more than a stupid act.

An attempt to erode democracy and the processes of democracy which is why the matter has to go to the UK Supreme Court to get fixed, these Bills aren’t competent and should be struck down. The decision to proceed with legal action was taken by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Scotland, the government's senior law officers.

The SNP have opened a can of worms which they didn’t need to open, and now it is coming back on them.

The UK Supreme Court is being asked to rule on whether the legislation is constitutional and within the powers of the devolved legislatures, as I have said, it isn’t competent

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Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC MP said:

“This legislation risks creating serious legal uncertainty for individuals and businesses as we leave the EU. This reference is a protective measure which we are taking in the public interest. The Government very much hopes this issue will be resolved without the need to continue with this litigation.”

SNP Ministers in Edinburgh have repeatedly branded the UK Government's EU Withdrawal Bill a "power grab" which threatens devolution, it isn’t, the phrase ‘power grab’ may seem rather catchy but in reality, it isn’t a serious basis to justify what they have done.

This is in part party politics, and not even smart party politics at that being played out in the UK Supreme Court.

The Scottish Parliament's Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh has previously ruled the Scottish EU Continuity Bill is outside Holyrood's competence but that apparently didn’t matter to SNP ministers who simply said they are confident it is not. Given there are so many lawyers who are SNP Ministers, you have to wonder about the extent of their legal expertise which appears to limited.

Advocate General for Scotland Lord Keen said:

“By referring the Scottish Parliament’s Continuity Bill to the Supreme Court, we are seeking legal certainty as to its competence. Given the Presiding Officer’s view at introduction that the Bill was not within the legal scope of the Parliament, we believe it is important to ask the Court to provide absolute clarity. In doing so we are following the process set out in the Scotland Act 1998. Particularly in the run up to Brexit, it is vital that we avoid legal uncertainty in our statute book.”

This case is Nicola Sturgeon’s mini Waterloo, like Napoleon, her ego has got the better of her, now she will be publicly held up for what she is once again, an utterly useless politician.

Sacked SNP Minister Mike Russell who failed at being Education, now minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe Michael Russell reiterated that Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the Continuity Bill is within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

Sacked SNP Minister Mike Russell isn’t clever, far from it, even a first year law student could drive a truck through this nonsense.

Russell said:

“The Continuity Bill was passed by 95 votes to 32 in the Scottish Parliament; that is an overwhelming majority. Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the Bill is within legislative competence”.

You have to laugh, 95 sheep passed a Bill, and in his mind, that makes it okay, you couldn’t make it up, and regardless of the number, that doesn’t make the Bill legal.

Russell added:

“The Lord Advocate will be arguing in the Supreme Court that it is within the powers of the Scottish Parliament to prepare for the consequences for devolved matters of UK withdrawal from the European Union. Our Continuity Bill is an important and necessary piece of legislation to prepare Scotland’s laws for Brexit while protecting the powers of the Scottish Parliament that people voted for. The Scottish Government has made clear it cannot recommend the Scottish Parliament consent to the Withdrawal Bill in its current form”.

So, Russell spells it out, the incompetent legislation is all about an attempt to stop the people of the UK who exercised their democratic right to leave the EU.

Russell also said:

  

“Alongside the Welsh Government, we have always said our preference would be to reach an agreement with the UK Government to amend the EU Withdrawal Bill to respect the powers of the devolved administrations and both Governments are ready to  continue meaningful talks to further discuss potential solutions. While the Scottish Government is not opposed to UK-wide frameworks in certain areas when these are in Scotland’s interests, this must only happen with the agreement of the Scottish Parliament.”

The issue is clear cut, the UK Supreme Court will and should strike down both the Holyrood and Welsh Assembly Bills, this case isn’t one of the great legal cases but what it does do is reign in the power of Holyrood and the Welsh Assembly. There is a case for looking at devolution so that it can be improved so that it works better with Westminster.

In order to get that process working, we first have to remove the SNP as the Government of Scotland, in this way we can have reform, and we can start to have a parliament that works for all Scots, something which isn’t happening at present. The machinery of government has been abused, skewered to become an independence campaign machine; it doesn’t function as it should.

Finally, when Nicola Sturgeon gets defeated in the UK Supreme Court, this will be one case which down the line she will regret, it is a marker on the road to her exiting the post of First Minister, not be choice but by being removed by the people.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University