May refuses to say if Scotland will control its own agricultural policy post-Brexit
Prime Minister Theresa May has refused to say if Scotland will make decisions over its own agricultural policies after Brexit.
Scottish Nationalist MPs accused Mrs May of a “power grab” after she dodged the question at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday (1 March).
The SNP’s deputy leader, Angus Robertson, asked for a commitment that powers over those areas currently held by Brussels would be handed back to the Scottish Government rather than the UK Government when Britain leaves the EU.
May waved aside demands from the SNP for specifics on her plans, but left the door open for powers to be taken back by Westminster.
And according to a report in The Times, a senior Whitehall source dismissed vows made by the Vote Leave campaign to Scots during the EU referendum as “another failed Michael Gove promise”.
During the EU referendum, Tom Harris, the former Labour MP who led the official Scottish Vote Leave campaign, told reporters at its launch that Scotland would have far more freedom to control fisheries and farming without interference from London after Brexit.
Agriculture, fisheries and environment policies were all devolved to Scotland under the 1998 act that created the Scottish parliament, but in practice they have been controlled by Brussels ever since Britain in 1973 joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor to the EU.
'Important single market of the UK'
However, the PM said ministers were in talks with the devolved administrations over which powers would be returned from Brussels and which would remain with the central UK government.
She added: “The overriding aim for everything that we do when we make those decisions is to ensure that we do not damage the important single market of the United Kingdom.”
Last month, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused pro-Brexit ministers in London of 'grabbing power' from Scotland by refusing to honour referendum pledges to protect the country’s farmers.
She said there was mounting anxiety that Andrea Leadsom, the environment and agriculture secretary, wanted to impose a UK-wide agriculture policy and seize control over about £500m in Scottish farm subsidies.
But the NFU said British farmers may be happier to have agricultural policy centralised to avoid differences between devolved parts of the union, the union's Vice President Guy Smith said.
