Devolution Redesigned and Reloaded; SNP Leader Ian Blackford calls on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to halt Brexit Bill after all three devolved legislatures reject it, the lack of dignity and losers consent has flagged up a constitutional problem which should be tackled by Westminster, when devolved parliaments get turned in ‘hubs for democracy deniers’, either there must be a legal or political fix by Westminster

Dear All

Having lost the Brexit Battle at every stage, the pettiness of the Remain campaign knows no bounds apparently. The UK’s three devolved legislatures have voted not to consent to the Brexit Bill. And it should be noted these devolved legislatures are control by staunch anti Brexit Parties. It is clear that the devolved legislatures in being petty are exercising their right to democracy in voting but they also express complete and utter contempt for the democratic process when it doesn’t suit them.

The idea that they should complain about “unprecedented attack” on devolution is madness and an indictment on the current state of our political class. Democratic elections are designed to create unequal outcomes, this means for some to win, others have to lose, and when they lose they accept the result. Without ‘losers consent’, the democratic process is damaged. And this is what we have here, the damaging of the democratic process by people who clearly hold power but are anti democratic.

No matter what objects the remainers try, what scheme they cook up, we are leaving the EU on the 31^st January 2020, this means the EU loses its ‘cash cow’ and we regain our sovereignty. What the political parties lose is networking opportunities for the advancement of the small wealthy elite in terms of power sharing in Europe. This power sharing is beyond democratic accountability, the EU Commission like many other organisations in the EU is designed not to be accountable to the people because it was setup that way.

SNP leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford accused Boris Johnson of being a ‘democracy denier’, clearly the words were chosen careful to create offence. But also they show how we in Scotland have been saddled with such low grade politicians. If anything the SNP by actions, word and history are the party of the democracy denier’. They are willing to take us back into the EU without a referendum, because they want money and power, they think they are somehow ‘global politicians in waiting’ but the reality is the opposite, they backward and inward looking as a group.

The SNP remit at Westminster appears to be based on causing dissent, offence and trouble at every opportunity which is why they are beyond a joke; it’s becoming boring now as seen by mass walkouts when SNP politicians speak. The acrimonious exchanges in the House of Commons show how unsophisticated the SNP MPs are. But as they cause ‘noise’ their impact becomes less, people tune out, so anything reasonable is simply covered up by the constant flow of bile.

The House of Lords the night before had defeated the Government on the Brexit Bill is another example that people will use for reform of the House of Lords. I suspect that measures in the long term will be rushed through in order to ‘payback’ the Lords for their trouble. The talk of an elected second chamber is back on the agenda of this government, in a way the ‘payback’ will be a defeat for all but that’s another story.

The Prime Minister was prepared for after the House of Lords the night before had defeated the Government on the Brexit Bill, backing a move - by just four votes – to underline Westminster’s commitment to the so-called Sewel Convention. This states the UK Parliament "will not normally" legislate for devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislatures affected.

If the losers consent doesn’t exist then the UK government is under no obligation to honour the so-called Sewel Convention by simply citing that these are not ‘normal times’.

And then press on with Brexit.

SNP leader called on Mr Johnson to “reinstate the Sewel Convention,” telling MPs:

“Devolution is under attack from this Tory Government. Powers are being grabbed back to Westminster. There is no respect for the people of Scotland, for Wales and Northern Ireland, their governments or their decisions. Yesterday, the Welsh Assembly became the third devolved parliament to refuse consent for the Tory Brexit Bill. Why is the UK Government ignoring the principle of consent for our national government?”

Blackford is just a tiresome little man playing politics, he can yap all he likes but in the end after his long winded exchanges, there is a word which covers his objections…. No! He is arguing wrongly that the UK Government doesn’t have the legislative mandate to pursue its Brexit Bill. The opposite is true; the Conservatives have a dual mandate of the 2016 referendum result and the 2019 election, the country has spoken…. Get Brexit Done!

And Brexit will be getting done, but this nonsense opens up a can of worms about how the devolved parliaments operate and their powers. Is there now scope for changing the various acts to ensure that devolved parliaments know their limits and boundaries? I think there is a case for reviewing the various bodies. They are there as part of the UK government structure not a separate part designed to hamper the government on reserved matters.

Brexit is a reserved manner!                     

Ian Black ford added:

“As the benches opposite bray, it’s clear that this place simply doesn’t accept the reality that the Scottish Parliament speaks for the people of Scotland. The devolution settlement must be respected. Prime Minister, all three parliaments and even the House of Lords have called on you to end your Government’s attack on devolution. Will he stop the attack on our parliaments?”

The Prime Minister of the UK speaks for the entire UK; this fact hasn’t been put forcefully enough in the past. Could you imagine if a council in Scotland tried this nonsense on the parliament of Holyrood?

Nicola Sturgeon is merely a cllr plus politician; she isn’t the leader of Scotland.

Boris Johnson picked up on Blackford’s  reference to people saying no.

He told MPs:

“I agreed for a second with him when he said Scotland said no and it meant it and he was right. The people of Scotland said no to independence in 2014 and they meant it because they were told it was a once in a lifetime vote by Alex Salmond and his protégé Nicola Sturgeon, and indeed by him. They were told it was a once in a generation event. The people of Scotland did it because they know full well that £9 billion comes from the UK to Scotland, 60 per cent of Scotland’s trade is with the rest of the UK and they can see the vast investments in manufacturing that comes from the UK to Scotland, whether it’s in Rosyth, £1.5bn in building fantastic ships, or at Govan, fantastic investments in manufacturing.

We support manufacturing in Scotland; they support nothing except manufacturing grievances and they know it.”

Brexit will get done, but it will be a slow process which shows how dysfunctional the devolved systems are making the process. When 17.4 million win a vote, their result should be respected, if there is not a return to losers consent, then matters will have to be fixed politically.  In Scotland, we have seen and are living through political stagnation due to constant calls for referendums, there has to be either a legal or political remedy to stop this nonsense.

Finally, different people will have different remedies how this can be achieved, but how much further must Scotland sink because everyone agrees we have reached a tipping point? What measures need to be done to ‘fix’ Holyrood, we have a dysfunctional government in Scotland and a dysfunctional Parliament being used as political party campaigning vehicles. Is an amendment to the Scotland Act needed, or does the Act need rewritten by Westminster?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University