SCOTLAND should get behind Nicola Sturgeon in resisting demands for Westminster to take over a range of devolved powers being transferred from Brussels after Brexit, former First Minister Henry McLeish has said.

The Labour grandee said Sturgeon was right not to trust Theresa May’s Conservative Government on the EU Withdrawal Bill’s Clause 11, which deals with the devolved powers issue.

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He said the UK Government had no interest in protecting the powers of the Scottish Parliament and everything “humanly possible” should be done to resist its demands.

“This situation has largely been created by the ideology of the present government and I can’t see why any self-respecting Scot would want to tolerate that or give it any credence whatsoever. The Tories have shown by example they are no friends of devolution,” he said.

McLeish also cautioned his own party about pressing the Scottish Government into reaching an agreement with the Tory Government, as the Labour Government in Wales had done.

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Lesley Laird, the shadow Scottish Secretary, seemed to suggest an agreement should be struck when she spoke in the Commons last Wednesday.

McLeish said: “Scots have got to be suspicious of what the UK Government is about.

“Is it to undermine devolution that we are celebrating 20 years of just now? Is it to undermine the achievements of the Scottish governments over those years, achievements like free tuition, the smoking ban, free personal care?

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“Labour can support Scotland and ensure Scotland does not lose out on the transfer of powers, that Scotland does not lose out because of a weakening of devolution, and Labour should not lose out on an opportunity to speak up for Scotland, and be unashamed of that.

“The Labour party needs to realise the constitutional question is really important and can’t be cast aside in the interests of getting a quick deal with the UK Government. The Tory Government is absolutely beyond the pale just now as far as sensible governance is concerned.

“I’m not sure why anyone would want to force the Scottish Government into a quick deal with the Tory Government.”

The UK Government wants the Scottish Government to recommend Holyrood gives its consent to the bill. But the Scottish Government has refused, bringing in its own alternative EU Continuity Bill to avoid a legal vacuum after Brexit. Further talks are expected next week.

McLeish helped steer the Scotland Act, which re-established the Scottish Parliament, through the House of Commons when he was devolution minister in the 1990s.

“As someone who took the devolution bill through the House of Commons there is a danger that this could start the undermining of the basic devolution legislation which has been strengthened twice since 1998,” he said.

“Since the inception of devolution there have been many steps forward but this is a UK government that really doesn’t accept that Scotland is a different part of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Government is absolutely right to take the position it has.”

Ministers in Wales no longer object to the bill, after the UK Government put forward changes to it, but the Scottish Government still fears it could see Holyrood’s powers restricted for up to seven years.

At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday Sturgeon made clear her objection to amendments, saying if Holyrood agreed to these it would have “real implications” in terms of its abilities. Sturgeon said: “If we were to agree this it would allow for a period of up to seven years for the UK Government to dictate new arrangements for farming support in Scotland, it would allow the UK Government to force us perhaps to lift our ban on GM crops.

“It could restrict our ability during that period to properly tackle obesity and alcohol misuse, it could force us to relax food standards regulations and perhaps open the door to US chlorinated chicken and anything else that was demanded in a trade deal.

“I don’t think any self-respecting member of this Parliament should give those proposals the time of day and this Government will not do that.”