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I get the feeling some people still just don't / won't believe the adverse impact of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 upon devolution in Scotland and Wales. [Norn Iron is a special case, thanks to Johnson's Protocol...]
So I'll spell it out as clearly as I can in 4 wee tweets:
So I'll spell it out as clearly as I can in 4 wee tweets:
1) For all practical purposes, the ability of Scotland or Wales to do anything that regulates physical goods in a way that deviates from English standards, has been suppressed – regardless of the social or welfare policy that the devolved institutions might seek to pursue.
2) The power of the Scottish/Welsh parliament to regulate other aspects of the market for physical products (advertising, licensing, all sorts of commercial practices) has been significantly curtailed: at best scrutinised, at worst overruled, if interferes with English business.
3) With similar effects for devolved competences over services, as well as restrictions on professional regulation...
Now: does the UK need some framework for managing internal trade? Thanks to Brexit, yes. But does the 2020 Act create a fair and balanced system? Surely not.
Now: does the UK need some framework for managing internal trade? Thanks to Brexit, yes. But does the 2020 Act create a fair and balanced system? Surely not.
4) In Tory hands, the whole UKIM is based on a very dubious assumption: that regulatory differences created through the exercise of devolved powers are inherently problematic and should be suppressed in practice. Things just don't get more highhandedly Anglocentric than that.
ps, those who blame the Scottish or Welsh Government for this Act are peddling fake news of their own: the devolved governments & parliaments fought tooth & nail against it. But under the UK constitution, devolution is at the mercy of any London regime with a Commons majority...
