Brexit: Scotland would not ‘co-operate’ with UK policy frameworks

Scotland’s Brexit Secretary has pledged to resist any attempts by Westminster to impose common policy frameworks in the event of the “chaos” of a no-deal Brexit.

Scottish Brexit secretary Mike Russell. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Mike Russell insisted that the Scottish Government would “not cooperate” with such a move.

While the Scottish and UK administrations had been in talks to draw up common UK frameworks to cover areas such as food hygiene and animal health and welfare, Mr Russell said discussions on these had effectively been suspended as officials and politicians try to deal with the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Russell told MSPs on Holyrood’s Finance and Constitution Committee: “It’s hard, unless you spend time as I do in Whitehall, to realise how the entire machinery of government has been captured by the issue of no-deal and the chaos that presently exists.”

Common frameworks are needed to allow the UK’s internal market to continue to operate after Brexit, ensuring companies face the same regulations north and south of the border.

But Mr Russell said he had “no answer” about what would happen if the UK left the EU with no Brexit deal in place and no frameworks agreed.