The chairs of the Senedd’s Constitutional Affairs, Finance and External Affairs committees have issued a joint strongly-worded letter calling for the UK Government to not approve the UK Internal Market Bill without the explicit consent of the devolved nations.
The Internal Market Bill has been portrayed as a “power grab” by the UK Government by given Whitehall sweeping powers in devolved policy areas under the guise of stabilising the UK’s “internal market” after Brexit.
The committee chairs say that if the Bill becomes law without the consent of the devolved parliaments, it would be “profoundly damaging to the UK”.
The Sewel Convention – an unofficial rule by which laws affecting devolved areas require the consent of the devolved parliament – can, in principle, be overridden by the UK’s constitutional keystone of parliamentary sovereignty. Parliamentary sovereignty means the UK Parliament can make or unmake any law it likes, including in devolved areas.
A debate and vote on a Legislative Consent Motion for the UK Internal Market Bill is scheduled to take place in the Senedd on Tuesday 1st December 2020.
