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| Brexit law 'will strengthen devolution', claims UK minister | Brexit law 'will strengthen devolution', claims UK minister |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Changes to a proposed Brexit law will "strengthen and enhance" devolution settlements, a cabinet minister has claimed. | |
| First Minister Carwyn Jones has repeatedly claimed the EU (Withdrawal) Bill amounts to a "power grab". | First Minister Carwyn Jones has repeatedly claimed the EU (Withdrawal) Bill amounts to a "power grab". |
| But Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington said Whitehall was offering "very big changes" to the law to settle the row. | |
| The Welsh Government has said the offer does not go far enough. | The Welsh Government has said the offer does not go far enough. |
| The bill aims to ensure the rules currently set by European law still apply in the UK after Brexit, while giving the UK Parliament power to change them. | The bill aims to ensure the rules currently set by European law still apply in the UK after Brexit, while giving the UK Parliament power to change them. |
| But the Welsh and Scottish government have objected to the current proposals saying they amount to a "power grab" which undermines devolution. | But the Welsh and Scottish government have objected to the current proposals saying they amount to a "power grab" which undermines devolution. |
| Under the plans, powers in devolved areas like farming are set to return to Westminster rather than Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. | Under the plans, powers in devolved areas like farming are set to return to Westminster rather than Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. |
| After a meeting of UK, Welsh and Scottish ministers in London on Thursday, all three governments said progress was being made but further discussions are needed to try to reach agreement. | After a meeting of UK, Welsh and Scottish ministers in London on Thursday, all three governments said progress was being made but further discussions are needed to try to reach agreement. |
| The UK government has said it intends to change the bill and has proposed that the vast majority of the 64 powers returning from the EU will now go to the devolved administrations. | The UK government has said it intends to change the bill and has proposed that the vast majority of the 64 powers returning from the EU will now go to the devolved administrations. |
| In a speech at the Airbus plant in Broughton, Flintshire, on Monday, Mr Lidington said that the new offer represents a "significant step forward in these negotiations". | |
| He said: "This offer puts beyond doubt our commitment to a smooth and orderly departure from the European Union, in a way that doesn't just respect the devolution settlements, but strengthens and enhances them." | |
| Mr Lidington will also say that the UK's "common market" must be maintained post-Brexit and will dismiss the idea of independence for nations, saying the country works better in "unity". | Mr Lidington will also say that the UK's "common market" must be maintained post-Brexit and will dismiss the idea of independence for nations, saying the country works better in "unity". |
| "By retaining UK frameworks where necessary we retain our ability not only to act in the national interest when we need to, but to do so with a unity of purpose," he said. | |
| Food labelling and hygiene rules were one area where powers could be retained within a UK-wide framework, Mr Lidington suggested. | |
| "Four different sets of rules would only make it more difficult and more expensive for a cheesemaker in Monmouthshire to sell to customers in Bristol or for cattle farmers in Aberdeenshire to sell their beef in Berwick-upon-Tweed," he said. | |