Scottish Politics

The understatement of the century

by R J Hainey · Published January 31, 2018 · Updated January 31, 2018

Lord David Steel stated the obvious this week when he pointed out that the Scottish Government has been treated badly by Westminster in relation to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

However, what David is referring to here is just the tip of the iceberg.

WATCH: Here’s what Lord Steel said to peers in the House of Lords. #Brexit #Peers #EUWithdrawalBill #Clause11 pic.twitter.com/KPQH4hHHCu
— Alan Jenkins (@ajjenkins) January 30, 2018

David has reminded me to update my list of all of the democratic issues this whole Brexit process has illuminated with regards to devolution.

Please let me know in the comments if I have forgotten any.

The party that called the Brexit referendum received less than 15 percent of the vote in Scotland at the General Election.
The referendum could have ensured that all countries of the UK needed to support Brexit for it to happen. The Tories, who Scotland never voted for, refused to make that a rule.
Scotland voted to stay in the EU but we have to leave regardless.
The Supreme Court decided that the Scottish Parliament does not even need to be consulted about its views on article 50.
The EU Withdrawal Bill, which is the mechanism for replacing EU law with UK law currently means that the UK government will have to change the devolution settlement.
The Bill also paves the way for the UK government to unilaterally alter laws that should be made in Holyrood.
The Bill, in its current form, means the UK government is set to gain powers that should return to Scotland from the EU by default.
The debate over the impact of the Bill on Scotland bypassed the democratically elected House of Commons and Scotland’s fate is now reliant on the goodwill of unelected peers.
The UK Government is able to proceed with its plans due to the fact it paid a bung to the DUP in order to buy its support.
The solution to our lack of sovereignty would be a second independence referendum but, despite the democratically elected Scottish Parliament voting to hold one, the UK government refused to respect this vote.