The UK Government’s controversial Internal Market Bill is still going through Westminster in the ‘ping pong’ stages, after multiple government defeats by the House of Lords.
The Bill aims to ensure unhindered trade continues within the UK. Opponents in Labour and Plaid Cymru recently voted against the bill, due to the danger it will centralise power in London and therefore undermine devolution.
Welsh Government says it would undermine the Senedd’s ability to regulate goods and services. The Scottish Parliament has already withheld its consent of the bill and there has been a similar vote against in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Ever since the Brexit vote in 2016, the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has highlighted the danger of possible divergences between standards and rules in different parts of the UK - and the need to reach agreement and put in place mechanisms that respect devolution early on to avoid this happening.
The UK Government now plans to withdraw the clauses which would have given UK ministers the power to override parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement in order to prevent breaking international law.