MSPs Vote to Repeal Internal Market Act

The Internal Market Act allows the UK Government to control key devolved policy areas without the consent of Scotland’s Parliament.

During a Holyrood debate yesterday, Independence Minister Jamie Hepburn MSP warned that UK Ministers could open up Scotland’s water and health services to “market access principles” and urged the UK Government to respect devolution by repealing the Act.

The Act is already impacting the Scottish Parliament’s ability to pass laws in areas such as the environment and animal welfare and Mr Hepburn described it as “hostile to democratic decisions by the Scottish Parliament.”