2. What discussions has the Counsel General had with his Scottish counterpart regarding the case before the Supreme Court on the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill? OAQ52640

Officials are in regular contact with the Lord Advocate's officials in Scotland. I last met with him informally in Belfast in August, and had informal discussions with him then. We await the Supreme Court's judgment, and I will be making a further statement to the Assembly when it's handed down. 

Can I thank you for that answer, Counsel General, because part of what I wanted to ensure is that once we have the deliberation and a decision from the Supreme Court, we have an opportunity to question you on your views and your interpretation of that decision, particularly as when we, as an Assembly, decided to support the EU withdrawal Bill and, as a consequence, our Bill was taken away from the Supreme Court with the intention, perhaps, at some point in the future, to repeal that Bill, we were very much of the hope that a deal would be done? As we are getting closer to the October and November Council meetings of the EU, it's very much more likely that there will be no deal done, and the consequences therefore are becoming much more serious. So, the implications of the decision on this Bill and what it implies to the powers of the Parliament in Scotland and ourselves is going to be crucial as to where we may need to go on a legal situation after that withdrawal date. 

Well, I should say that I remain confident that the arguments that I put before the Supreme Court will succeed. As the Supreme Court itself said in Miller, withdrawal from the EU will enhance the competence of the devolved legislatures, and, as I say, I'm confident that that argument will prevail. He mentions the continuity Act that we obviously passed in this place, and steps are clearly being taken to repeal that in accordance with the inter-governmental agreement. That remains the position. 

With regard to other legislation that may need to come forward, he describes the 'no deal' scenario. I will repeat again the Government's position, which my friend the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the First Minister have repeated on several occasions in this Chamber: a 'no deal' scenario is catastrophic for Wales and for the UK. It's incumbent on the UK Government to bring forward proposals that reflect the principles that we've put forward to protect Wales's interest and the interest of the broader UK to avoid that cliff edge of a 'no deal' scenario.