Scotland says decision to trigger Brexit must go through parliament

LONDON: The British government cannot ignore Scotland’s wishes by kicking off the Brexit process without going through parliament, Scotland’s chief legal officer told the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court on Thursday. The court is hearing an appeal by the government against a ruling last month that it requires the assent of the British parliament to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty — the first formal step towards quitting the bloc — and cannot simply use executive powers. The devolved government of Scotland, where a majority voted against leaving the European Union, argues that it would be wrong for the British government to use executive powers to take the momentous step of triggering Article 50. “That would by-pass an important constitutional requirement of the United Kingdom,” Lord Advocate James Wolffe told the Supreme Court on the fourth and final day of the appeal hearing. Under a constitutional mechanism known as the Sewel Convention, the British parliament must seek consent from the Scottish parliament when it makes laws that have an impact on policy areas that are devolved to the Scottish government. Wolffe argued that Brexit would impact on devolved matters, and that meant the London parliament should be involved. “A bill which determined to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union would engage the convention because of the effects that it would have with regard to devolved matters,” he said. — Reuters