Scotland Bill: Fiscal Framework
Lord Lawson of Blaby Excerpts(8 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Dunlop
I say to the noble Lord that we in the UK Government are determined to go the extra mile to ensure that we get a deal.
Lord Lawson of Blaby (Con)
Will my noble friend confirm his answer to my noble friend Lord Higgins? Will he give an undertaking that the Scotland Bill will not proceed any further until the fiscal framework has been published?
Lord Dunlop
Our priority is to get a deal done so that we have a fiscal framework that this House can scrutinise. That is our first priority.
Scotland Bill
Lord Lawson of Blaby Excerpts(8 years, 11 months ago)
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Lord Keen of Elie
If I may, I shall respond to the observations from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott, after the dinner break. I confess it is not immediately apparent to me what the thrust of his point was, and maybe I am missing it, but I shall give it some consideration.
Lord Lawson of Blaby
If the Minister will allow me, those of us who are not as expert as he is are getting a little puzzled. Can he help the House by giving practical examples of the sort of circumstances in which the UK Parliament would legislate on devolved matters? A few such examples would be helpful for us to understand precisely what this is getting at.
Lord Keen of Elie
In a sense, this is connected to my earlier observation that at the end of the day the clause is not justiciable. It will be for Parliament at the time to decide that it is or is not going to legislate for Scotland in a devolved matter. The term “normally” means “usually” or “generally”, but Parliament at the time may decide that it is going to legislate for Scotland in respect of a devolved matter. There is no limit on that power, as is expressly provided by Section 28(7) of the Scotland Act 1998. There is no limit on this Parliament’s sovereignty and supremacy in respect of that matter. The Sewel convention merely says that normally it will not do so; that is all.