EU Withdrawal Bill "progress", but "power grab" dispute remains

Progress has been made over devolved powers after the UK leaves the European Union, but talks between ministers have so far failed to resolved the dispute over the alleged "power grab" in the EU Withdrawal Bill.

A meeting today by the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) with representatives of all the devolved administrations as well as UK ministers, agreed the general principles determining how powers will be shared out, but not the contentious issue of powers returning from Brussels going in the first place to Westminster.

The meeting of the JMC was the first since February because of the collapse of power sharing in Northern Ireland, which was represented by the head of its civil service.

Mike Russell, the Scottish Government's Brexit minister, commented afterwards: "Today’s Joint Ministerial Committee meeting was a tale of two halves. We have been able to make some progress, including agreeing general principles that should ensure the role of the Scottish Parliament in any potential UK or GB wide frameworks. However we remain unable to recommend the Scottish Parliament consent to the EU Withdrawal Bill as currently drafted and will not be able to do so until the power grab is removed from the bill.

"I have and will continue to press for the amendments suggested by ourselves and the Welsh Government to be accepted, removing the power grab and providing a clear solution that respects devolution."