A “significant” attempt by the UK government to resolve the deadlock between London and the devolved administrations over what happens to powers being repatriated from Brussels after Brexit has been met with anger and scepticism.

In a major speech in north Wales, the Cabinet Office minister David Lidington gave details of a proposal under which the “vast majority” of returning powers would start off in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast rather than Whitehall.



Lidington, who is effectively Theresa May’s deputy, claimed the proposal amounted to a “very big change” but admitted it would result in the UK government retaining control over certain aspects of lawmaking which are normally devolved when there was a need to protect trade within the UK or meet international obligations.

He insisted this would be a temporary “backstop arrangement” and suggested Whitehall departments would have to report regularly to parliament to spell out their progress in allowing powers to return to devolved administrations.



The SNP-led Scottish government immediately dismissed Lidington’s remarks, insisting any attempt by the UK government to retain control over areas currently within Holyrood’s powers would be an unjustified power grab.

Mike Russell, the Scottish Brexit minister, said: “However they try to dress this up, the UK government is using Brexit to try to take control of devolved powers without the agreement of the Scottish parliament. It is totally unacceptable for the Tories to unilaterally rewrite the devolution settlement.”

Scottish officials brushed aside Lidington’s pledge that any UK government control over UK-wide common frameworks would be temporary, saying this gave Whitehall and Westminster too much power over policies which rightfully belonged in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast.

They said all four governments should have an equal say over these common frameworks, covering areas such as farming, fisheries and food labelling, without the UK government having any casting vote or veto.

The Labour Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones, said he welcomed the commitment of the UK government to continue to work with it on its EU withdrawal bill, but he added: “However, as currently drafted, the bill allows the UK government to take control of devolved policy areas, such as farming and fishing, once the UK has left the EU. This is an unacceptable attack on devolution in both Wales and Scotland.

“We now need further progress that goes beyond warm words and I hope the ‘very big changes’ promised in the speech equate to sensible amendments to the bill which respect devolution. We will continue to work with the UK and Scottish governments to that end.”

Speaking at the Airbus plant in north Wales, Lidington said the task of finding an agreement that the devolved administrations could agree to was “complex”.



Lidington said the UK’s “common market” must be maintained post-Brexit and dismissed the idea of independence for nations, saying the UK worked better in “unity”.

He used the example of food labelling and hygiene rules as one area where powers could be retained within a UK-wide framework.

“Four different sets of rules would only make it more difficult and more expensive for a cheesemaker in Monmouthshire to sell to customers in Bristol or for cattle farmers in Aberdeenshire to sell their beef in Berwick-upon-Tweed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Theresa May has insisted the Scottish and UK governments are closer to a deal on post-Brexit powers than people realise, arguing there is “considerable common ground” between them.

In an article for the Scottish political magazine Holyrood, May claimed that the Scottish and Welsh governments had already had a “beneficial” influence on her thinking about Brexit – countering opposition claims the devolved governments had been ignored.