Sturgeon
presses May on further devolution
First
minister proposals include further transfer of power to stay in EU
single market
YESTERDAY by: Mure
Dickie in Edinburgh
With her call for
sweeping devolution of powers to allow Scotland to stay in the EU
single market, Nicola Sturgeon has sent Theresa May a clear message:
we have a plan, your move now.
.
The Scottish first
minister’s proposals for how to deal with a “hard” Brexit that
takes the UK out of the single market are messy, complicated and
probably politically impossible. But they are also the most detailed
and closely argued plan for a post-EU future to be offered by any UK
political leader since June’s referendum.
While analysts say
the obstacles to Scotland staying in the EU single market if the UK
leaves appear overwhelming, they also warn of the consequences of
dismissing Ms Sturgeon’s proposals too lightly. “They are risking
breaking up the union if they don’t respond to this,” said
Michael Keating of Aberdeen university.
Prof Keating
acknowledged it was highly unlikely that the UK government would be
willing to devolve powers on a wide range of key policies from
immigration to financial services regulation.
As
we are now seeing on an almost daily basis, everything about Brexit
will be difficult, challenging and unprecedented
Nicola Sturgeon
But failure in
Westminster to recognise Scotland’s dissatisfaction with Brexit and
its support for remaining in the single market could alienate voters
and be disastrous for the future of the UK, he said.
One effect of
Scotland’s Brexit proposals might be to strengthen the hand of
those in Mrs May’s government arguing for the UK to try to stay in
the single market, which Ms Sturgeon says is her preferred option
short of abandoning Brexit altogether.
The Scottish
government’s 50-page policy paper, concludes that Westminster is in
“an apparent drive for a hard Brexit” but argues that even in
that case it would be possible for Scotland to retain full access to
the EU’s single market and free movement for EU citizens.
This would require
the UK, if it left the single market, to sponsor Scottish membership
of the European Free Trade Association and make arrangements for it
to stay in the European Economic Area, giving Scotland a status
similar to that of Norway.
The EU has always
shown itself to be adaptable to political realities
It would also
require a breadth of new powers for the Scottish government that
would fundamentally change the way the UK works.
On Monday, Mrs May
said she would “look seriously” at the proposals. But her
chancellor, Philip Hammond, has already emphatically rejected special
treatment for Scotland on the single market or immigration, on
practical and philosophical grounds.
A central concern is
likely to be how trade in goods and services within the UK would
function if Scotland were still bound by EU rules.
A special deal for
Scotland would also add greatly to the complexity of the UK’s
looming Brexit negotiations with the other 27 EU members states, all
of whom would have to agree.
Ms Sturgeon
acknowledged the technical, legal and political challenges but said
the UK’s exit from the EU demanded flexibility and compromise.
“As we are now
seeing on an almost daily basis, everything about Brexit will be
difficult, challenging and unprecedented,” she said.
Ms Sturgeon said she
wanted the UK government to either make it clear it wants to remain
in the EU single market and customs union or to endorse the Scottish
proposals by the time it triggers the Brexit process early next year.
But she would not
say whether she would push for a second Scottish independence
referendum if Mrs May rejected both options and would not promise
that there would be no second referendum even if the UK did agree.
Such reticence
reflects Ms Sturgeon’s desire to keep her options open — opinion
polls show a majority of voters in Scotland still oppose
independence. But she may be forced to make a decision in the next
few months to retain any chance of Scotland leaving the UK before
Brexit takes effect.
Kirsty Hughes, a
senior fellow at Friends of Europe, said Mrs May might either rule
out Ms Sturgeon’s proposals or agree to pursue only elements of
them, leaving the Scottish first minister back with her independence
dilemma.
“While the ball is
now in Theresa May’s court, it is likely to be back in Ms
Sturgeon’s very soon,” she said.
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