The Secretary of State for Scotland gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Constitution Committee, then its Justice Committee, on 6 September 2018.
Mr Mundell was there to support the committees’ scrutiny of the constitutional matters arising as a consequence of leaving the European Union.
Speaking at the opening of the Finance and Constitution Committee’s session, Mr Mundell said:
I deeply regret that the Scottish Parliament felt unable to give consent to the EU (Withdrawal) Act. To the very end we worked constructively with the Scottish Government to try to reach agreement, making significant changes to the legislation. Throughout, the UK Government upheld our commitment to the devolution settlement.
We remain fully committed to devolution and we will continue to seek legislative consent, take on board views, and work with the devolved administrations on Bills. We have worked well with the Scottish Government in the past and we must ensure we continue to work well together in the future. The progress we have made, and are making, on UK common frameworks is testament to this and, I hope indicative of our future relationship.
Mr Mundell went on to say that he was satisfied with the high level of work going on between officials of both governments on preparations for Exit, and that preparation for Brexit can only be done effectively if Scotland’s two governments work collaboratively together.
Published 17 September 2018
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