Brexit; Scotland

Scottish and Welsh leaders brand repeal bill a ‘naked power grab’

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Theresa May is facing a fresh constitutional clash with the Scottish government after Nicola Sturgeon threatened to block the great repeal bill, dismissing it as a “naked power grab”.

Nicola Sturgeon and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, meet in Brussels. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AFP/Getty Images

The European Union (withdrawal) bill requires the consent of the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly, but Scotland’s first minister and Wales’s Carwyn Jones issued a joint statement saying they could not recommend the bill as it stands to their respective legislatures.

Sturgeon has been careful to avoid describing the consent of the Scottish parliament as a veto. There is a potentially thorny issue as to whether Westminster could override the Scottish parliament.

The Scotland secretary, David Mundell, said Holyrood’s approval through a legislative consent motion would be required for the bill, but added: “I am optimistic we will obtain the consent.”

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