Pressure piles on Boris Johnson (pictured) over Power Grab Bill.
A veteran Tory politician has warned Boris Johnson that his government must not “ride roughshod” over devolution by forcing the Internal Market Bill on Scotland.
Lord Patrick Cormack, who served as a Tory MP for 4 decades, said he believed Scotland will “almost certainly” become independent due to “the forces of English nationalism which seem to be a little too predominant in my party.”
He also warned the UK government that putting the Good Friday Agreement at risk would be an act of “supreme folly”
His intervention comes after the General Teaching Council for Scotland warned that the Bill will impose lower standards over devolved areas and threaten Scotland’s education system.
SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing said:
“The SNP has repeatedly warned that the Internal Market Bill is an unprecedented power grab on devolution, allowing Tory ministers to interfere in entirely devolved areas such as education, food standards and agriculture.
“Now senior Tories are lining up to warn against this attack on the powers of the Scottish Parliament, and dismantle Boris Johnson’s deceitful claim that the Bill does not undermine devolution.
“If this Tory government’s plan to break international law and override devolution is too toxic for its own politicians, the people of Scotland must not be forced to accept it.
“Boris Johnson simply can’t be trusted.
“If his government forces this power grab Bill on Scotland, against our Parliament’s wishes, then it will prove beyond any doubt that the only way to protect our democracy is as an independent country.”
