Devolution undermined: Ministers call for new structures as Scottish and Welsh industries are ignored in new trade deals

  • Scottish and Welsh Ministers have accused the UK government of undermining devolution through new trade deals and legislation.

  • Key industries in Scotland and Wales said they are concerned about how new trade deals will impact them after receiving no meaningful engagement from the UK government.

  • The Ministers called for formal structures to ensure Scottish and Welsh voices are heard in the negotiation of new trade deals and to improve post-Brexit arrangements.

Ministers from the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales have said the UK government has undermined devolution in agreeing new trade deals which impact devolved issues and in by passing the UK Internal Markets Act.

Their comments were made at a session of the cross-party, cross-industry UK Trade and Business Commission which met today to hear evidence on the impact of new trade deals on the industries, businesses and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.

During the session, representatives of key industries in the devolved nations cited the problems that have arisen from the post-Brexit trading environment and the fears that they will be further undercut in future trade deals. They went on to say that despite their best efforts, they have had no meaningful engagement from the UK government.

James Withers, Chief Executive of the trade body, Scotland Food and Drink said

“We have massively struggled to have engagement with the UK Government. We’ve tried for months now to have a meeting with Lord Frost… three times it's been in the diary and [three times] it's been cancelled.

“There is a massive nervousness that agriculture is sold down the river to secure a deal in financial services or car parts… There has been a lack of transparency, a lack of dialogue, and certainly a lack of recognition of the importance of some of these sectoral issues to devolved nations and we need structures to be able to reflect that.”

Dylan Morgan, Deputy Director and Head of Policy, National Farmers Union Cymru said,

“The trade deals that have been negotiated and are being negotiated at the moment are with countries that have major agricultural export interests so as a Welsh farmer I'm struggling to see any benefit from what we’re at there and when you talk about the numbers just for Australia, in terms of what they’ll be allowed to bring in tariff free from day one in terms of beef and lamb, it dwarfs what they can bring into the whole of the EU at the moment.

“In parts of Wales a third of the people are directly employed in agriculture and a significant proportion of other businesses rely on that income from agriculture… our concern is that hasn’t been taken into account.”

Both Scottish and Welsh Ministers called for formal structures to ensure the devolved governments were kept informed about how new trade deals may affect their nations and allow them to have a voice in the negotiations. 

Ivan McKee MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise added,

“The Internal Market Act is deeply problematic and it effectively attempts to roll back the powers of devolution rather than approaching this on a consensual basis, where we can all sit down and agree on frameworks and approaches that works for everyone. 

“It’s very much about the UK Government taking the opportunity of Brexit to challenge the devolved governments with regards to the power and where our power lies and we do see that as deeply problematic.”

 Vaughan Gething MS, the Welsh Government’s Minister for the Economy said,

“The Internal Market Act is heavy handed and has a very real potential to undermine 20 years of settled will on devolution. We’ve already seen it allows UK ministers to reach into devolved areas, to spend and make alternative choices, and actually that’s really unhelpful form a business point of view to have two governments competing in exactly the same space.  

“Trade policy should not set domestic policy in areas that are devolved and have been for twenty years.”

The UK Internal Market Act passed last year enables the UK government to overrule decisions made by devolved administrations using powers on issues that have been devolved for decades.

Following the session, Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP who sits on the UK Trade and Business Commission said

“In their handling of the Brexit process and now in the negotiation of new trade deals, the UK government has shown us exactly how little they respect our devolved governments and institutions as well as our vital industries.

"Elected representatives of the nations’ governments must be able to play a meaningful and effective role in all future trade deals. It’s irrefutable that a trade minister in Wales is best placed to assess the potential impact of trade deals on the Welsh economy.’

Speaking after the session, SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford who sits on the UK Trade and Business Commission said,

“At every turn, this UK Government has done their utmost to roll back devolution and ignore the voices from Scotland and Wales who are best placed to tell them the cost of their ideological and misguided trade policy which has left fish rotting in containers and our exporters shutting up shop. If they continue this blind and bull-headed approach it will be at their own cost as well as ours.”

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