Around this time last week, when EU negotiators were preparing to travel to London for the trade talks set to begin on September 8. The big issues, we were told, were fisheries, state aids, and the larger one of what the EU refers to as “the level playing field.” They still are, but now there is something even more contentious, namely the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill. This legislation was foreshadowed in a white paper issued by the British Government in July. The actual bill was introduced in Parliament on September 9 and the debate on it in the House of Commons is set to begin next Monday, September 14. In one sense that debate has already begun, and, in another, it almost doesn’t matter how comes out. Among other things, the bill would, if enacted, permit the British Government to alter or not apply certain provisions of the withdrawal agreement or treaty that the UK and EU signed last January.
Today’s featured quote is from Prime Minister’s Question time in Parliament this past Wednesday, specifically from an exchange between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ian Blackford, the Leader of the Scottish National Party in the UK House of Commons. A portion of that exchange is reproduced below. To say the least, Mr. Blackford is not happy with the internal market bill, but there are some who are, if anything, more incensed than he. The EU is livid and insists the bill must be withdrawn by the end of this month. If it is not, they say, the trade talks are over.
For their part, those in charge of Her Majesty’s Government, notably, Prime Minister Johnson, Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and a key figure in this drama, and Lord David Frost, the UK’s Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe, have all insisted that the internal market bill will not be withdrawn. Add to that Boris Johnson’s earlier statement to the effect that, if the UK and EU are unable to reach a deal by October 15, they should both accept that the current transition period will end without one and prepare for the consequences of a no-deal Brexit.
The internal market bill is complex. So too is the challenge of unpacking the charges against it, including the wide-spread allegation that this law would itself be unlawful. We will deal with these issues later. This entry should, however, include some whiff of the smoke from this rather fiery debate. Here then is more from the exchange between Ian Blackford and Prime Minister Johnson.
FROM PRIME MINISTER’S QUESTION TIME, SEPTMEBER 9, 2020
MR. BLACKFORD (The Scottish National Party):
Shortly, the Government will publish their internal market proposals. I have seen them. They are nothing short of an attack on Scotland’s Parliament and an affront to the people of Scotland. As we have already heard, this legislation breaks international law, but it also breaks domestic law. The Prime Minister and his friends—a parcel o’ rogues—are creating a rogue state where the rule of law does not apply. Why does the Prime Minister think that he and his friends are above the law? …
PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:
On the contrary, the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill is about protecting jobs, protecting growth and ensuring the fluidity and safety of our UK internal market and prosperity throughout the United Kingdom. It should be welcomed, I believe, in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and throughout the whole country.
MR. BLACKFORD:
… [W]e know that the Government are prepared to break their international obligations. What the Prime Minister said is complete rubbish, and the Prime Minister knows it. His own White Paper was clear that state aid is going to be grabbed back from Scotland and handed to Westminster. If the Prime Minister will not listen to the Scottish Government, will he listen to the National Farmers Union Scotland president, who warned that the proposals “limit” the devolved Administrations? The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee warned that they will “create new reservations in areas of devolved competence.”
The General Teaching Council for Scotland has warned that the proposals undermine devolved education functions. That, Mr Speaker, is the reality.
Scotland is speaking out, and I state that the Scottish Parliament will reject this attack on devolution, so the question is: will the Prime Minister break domestic law, disregard the settled will of the Scottish people, ignore the concerns of Scotland’s communities and press ahead with this Bill?
PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:
The answer is that yes, indeed, we will press on with the Bill, because I believe that the right hon. Gentleman’s attacks on it are totally illogical. It actually represents a substantial transfer of powers and of sovereignty to Scotland, to Wales, to Northern—it is a massive devolutionary act. What it also does is—I believe this is common ground across the Dispatch Box—[Interruption.] It also ensures the integrity of the UK internal market. He speaks of a transfer of powers to the UK Government. On the contrary, what he would do is transfer powers back to Brussels not just over competition and state aid but, of course, over fisheries too. That is the policy of the Scottish nationalist party, and it would be a disaster for our country.
