Mr Mundell said:
The EU (Withdrawal) Bill provides certainty for business and families in Scotland as we leave the EU. It fully respects both the spirit and letter of the devolution settlement.
It guarantees the vast majority of powers returning from the UK will go directly to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. In a small number of areas current arrangements will remain in place until we can create new UK-wide frameworks.
We have made strenuous efforts during a year of negotiations to reach agreement with the Scottish and Welsh governments. We are disappointed the Scottish Government did not support it, as the Welsh Government has done. The constitutional settlement provides for this situation, and we are proceeding in line with the Sewel Convention.
We now need to look to the future, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Scottish Government to create the UK-wide legal frameworks we need to protect the UK internal market – a market which is vital for business and jobs in Scotland.
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