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EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic will arrive later today to hold emergency talks with Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove. Government sources revealed to Express.co.uk that the prime minister and his team are “disappointed”. Scotland disagreed with the internal market bill, which aims to give delegate nations more powers, but stressed that the UK is negotiating with the EU as a single nation. with Mr. Johnson at the helm.
The prime minister is facing mounting pressure after the European Commission called for urgent talks with Britain on Johnson’s plans to nullify key elements of the EU’s withdrawal agreement with the bill.
The Scottish government has criticized Mr Johnson for ignoring pleas for Scottish officials to participate in discussions with Brussels.
Scotland’s Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing MSP also claimed that “the great promises that were made” in the 2016 referendum had not been kept under Johnson.
Ewing told the Holyrood Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee on Wednesday: “Our disappointment is that the high promises that were made in the referendum have not been kept and the negotiations that began many months ago have achieved nothing.”
He highlighted fishing as a key problem area, adding: “My officials are being asked to work with a blindfold.
“Perhaps if our offer to participate in the negotiations had been accepted, now more progress could have been made.”
When asked if Scotland would seek a ‘warmer’ relationship with the EU if a Brexit trade deal is not reached, Scottish Constitution Secretary Michael Russell said: “We are taking whatever steps we can to prepare for the worst of the cases”.
A government source told Express.co.uk that “the UK was negotiating with the EU” and emphasized that Boris Johnson’s team was “upset” with the behavior of ministers in Edinburgh.
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The source said: “We are negotiating with the EU as a nation and working with all decentralized nations in this process.
“It is disappointing that Scotland does not agree with the Internal Market Bill, but it is critical to protecting the UK.”
Another added: “Scotland seeks to divide, not to work as a team.”
Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised that the Scottish government “will fiercely resist this attack on the powers of our national parliament” following the introduction of the UK internal market bill.
Sturgeon said: “Far from restoring powers to Scotland, it is now clear that Brexit means regaining control of Holyrood and taking control from the Scottish people.”
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He also promised that the Scottish government “will fight tooth and nail against this blatant attempt to reverse the return of power.”
She said: “The UK government is not only willing to violate international law, it is clear that it is now ready to break the return.
“The bill proposed by the Conservatives for the so-called UK internal market is an abomination.
“It is a naked takeover of power that would paralyze the return.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and Foreign Affairs, Michael Russell, suggested that legal action over the new Brexit bill had not been ruled out.
Sturgeon’s remarks were echoed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said she was “very concerned” following the presentation in Parliament of the UK Internal Market Bill, which ministers have admitted that it will violate international law.
As talks continued in London on a post-Brexit free trade deal, he said such actions would “undermine confidence” and called on the prime minister to honor his past commitments.
Johnson argued that the legislation is necessary to protect the Northern Ireland peace process if the two sides cannot agree on a free trade deal before the current Brexit transition period ends at the end of the year.
He was forced to defend the legislation in the Commons, however, emphasizing the laws provided a “legal safety net” to guard against “extreme or irrational interpretations” of the provisions of the Northern Ireland agreement that could lead to creation of “a border in the Irish Sea”.
In Questions from the Prime Minister, Johnson said his priority was to preserve the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland peace process.
“To do that, we need a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations of the protocol that could lead to a border in the Irish Sea in a way that I believe would be detrimental to the interests of Good Friday. Agreement and harmful to the interests of peace in our country ”, he said.
“That has to be our priority.”
EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said he was seeking an urgent meeting of the joint EU-UK committee on the Brexit withdrawal agreement to allow Johnson’s team to “craft” his plan, which is expected to have place today.
At a press conference in Brussels, Sefcovic said he had raised his concerns in a phone call Tuesday with Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, his co-chair on the committee.
He added: “The withdrawal agreement is not open to renegotiation and we hope that the letter and spirit of the withdrawal agreement will be fully respected. I think we have to be very, very clear. “
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