division_name: Nhs Long-Term Plan &#8212; Sewel Convention
motion: <p class="indent" pid="b79.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House has considered the Sewel Convention.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b80.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;fairly be described as a power grab&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b80.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;quite explicitly that it doesn&#8217;t affect the power of the UK parliament to make laws for Scotland.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b80.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;a future in which Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England continue to flourish side-by-side as equal partners.&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b81.4/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Injustice in the end produces independence&#8221;?</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b83.4/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The main role of the Scottish Secretary is to promote and protect the devolution settlement.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b84.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The sooner clause 11 of the Withdrawal Bill is cast aside, the better. Constitutionally maladroit, it warps the dialogue about the role and place of the domestic market concept post-Brexit.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b84.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We have consistently pushed to enhance the powers of devolved parliaments&#8212;where it makes sense to do so&#8212;and believe more devolved powers would better enable Scottish and Welsh Ministers to react to unique regional challenges and shape tailored solutions&#8230; We feel the transfer of powers to the devolved administrations would make it easier for the sector to influence their use in a positive way.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b84.1/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The UK Government must accept the legitimacy of devolved institutions and realise that proposals which create a situation where the UK could legislate on any area of devolved competence without the agreement of the Scottish Parliament would be an erosion of devolution and would not be acceptable.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b87.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;considers that the continuation of the Convention is vital to the success of devolution.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b88.2/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on March 25, 1707, is hereby reconvened.&#8221;&#8212;[Scottish Parliament Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2018-05-12">12 May</phrase> 1999.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b88.2/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The act does not specify which matters are devolved to the Scottish Parliament, rather it specifies those matters that are reserved to the UK Parliament. Those matters not reserved by the Scotland Act are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament has primary legislative powers, ie the power to pass acts.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b89.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The principle of unlimited sovereignty of Parliament is a distinctly English principle which has no counterpart in Scottish constitutional law.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b89.1/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has a right to say to his country, &#8216;Thus far shalt thou go and no further.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b91.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Let me be blunt: the stand-off between Holyrood and Westminster is primarily the fault of Nicola Sturgeon&#8221;?</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b98.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I cannot remember one hostile speech that could be construed as an outright attempt to trash Scotland&#8217;s constitutional position.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b99.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Whether circumstances are &#8216;normal&#8217; is a quintessential matter of political judgment for the Westminster Parliament.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b106.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b107.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;All this crowd are interested in doing is performing stunts and disrupting Parliament.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b107.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The SNP are proposing a fully-costed manifesto for an independent Scotland&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b110.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;it is recognised that the Parliament of the United Kingdom will not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b110.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;which is normally dealt with by the Scottish Parliament&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b113.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;does not affect the power of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to make laws for Scotland.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b113.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there may be instances (eg international obligations which touch on devolved as well as reserved matters) where it will be more convenient for legislation to be passed by the UK Parliament&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b113.0/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;yon loons fairly embarrassed themsels.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The UK government has sought to portray the SNP&#8217;s anger over the power grab as illusory to the point of non-existent. &#8216;The 24 powers will eventually make their way to Holyrood, so what&#8217;s the problem?&#8217; they ask. The problem is threefold.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It could take up to seven years for these powers to return, a period that would outlast a term of government on either side of the border.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;At any time, during this period the UK government could alter them as they see fit.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;A precedent has also been set allowing any UK government to override the Sewel convention by which Westminster won&#8217;t legislate on devolved competencies without Holyrood&#8217;s permission.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Goodness me, this situation is a bit unusual; we can therefore ignore the usual constitutional rules.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;it&#8217;s jolly difficult if we have to agree stuff with&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the devolved institutions; let&#8217;s just ignore them.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b114.0/18" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;So long as we make some kind of effort to reach agreement (even if it&#8217;s a bit late and we have to be forced into it), it doesn&#8217;t matter if we can&#8217;t actually reach agreement.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b115.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;As for ordinary voters, they may not be greatly exercised about the finer points of the constitution&#8230; But they can hear the mood music; they know when their parliament is being slighted. Already frustrated over the democratic deficit that allows Scotland to be taken out of the EU when every part of the country voted remain, many of them will look askance at the dismissive way Conservative politicians behaved in the chamber on Wednesday.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b115.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;will be echoed around much of the country. Anyone who doesn&#8217;t understand the potential impact of such condescension on the psyche of Scottish voters wasn&#8217;t paying enough attention last time around.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b118.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Scotland is not a partner of the United Kingdom; Scotland is part of the United Kingdom.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2018-06-14">14 June</phrase> 2018; Vol. 642, c. 1129.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b120.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;to work together to establish common approaches in some areas that are currently governed by EU law, but that are otherwise within areas of competence of the devolved administrations or legislatures.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b120.0/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the amended Bill, and the inter-governmental agreement that goes with it, does both things we set out to do. It safeguards devolution and it safeguards the future of a successful United Kingdom&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b120.0/18" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;everything that could have been done in areas where we have no precedent to appeal to has been done.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, House of Lords, <phrase class="date" code="2018-06-14">14 June</phrase> 2018; Vol. 791, c. 1818.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b123.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Castigating the Tories for a &#8216;power grab&#8217; of repatriated powers while acting like a fifth column for the EU in Scotland, has left the SNP in the ludicrous position of demanding powers from Theresa May that Nicola Sturgeon promises an independent Scotland will hand back to Jean-Claude Junker.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b126.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It was never Scotland right or wrong.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b126.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It is not beyond the wit of man to devise institutions&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="b129.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="b129.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 88, Noes 51.</p>