MICHAEL Gove has been accused of “paving the way for independence” by undermining devolution with the UK Government’s post-Brexit trade bill.

Labour MSP Alex Rowley levelled the charge at the Cabinet Office minister as he gave evidence to Holyrood’s finance committee on the UK Internal Market Bill.

He told Mr Gove: “The people of Scotland are revolting en masse around these issues, and it’s why you will pave the way to independence in Scotland. 

“Not the SNP, but you and your friend the Prime Minister.”

Mr Gove said he hadn’t seen evidence of that, and said claims the Bill could lead to NHS privatisation or lower standards “stories to scare children” and “lurid fantasies”.

Mr Gove’s appearance via videolink came just a day after the Scottish Government urged MSPs to reject the Bill in what it called a “defining moment” for the Union.

SNP ministers said the Bill should be refused legislative consent as it was “fundamentally incompatible with the principles and practices of devolution”.

By breaching international law, the Bill would also be incompatible with the responsibility of Scottish Ministers under the ministerial code, the Government said.

The Bill is designed to harmonise trade across the UK after the end of the Brexit transition period this year, and make it easier fo the UK to strike trade deals with other countries.

The UK Government has said it will see a “power surge” for Holyrood, as powers previously exercised at European level are repatriated. 

Critics say it is a ‘power grab’ which tramples the decision-making powers of the devolved administrations, obliging them to mirror whatever rules and standards England adopts.

In a particularly strident exchange, Mr Rowley suggested the Bill would allow a future UK Government to strike a trade deal that would allow cosmetics tested on animals, which are banned in the EU, to be sold in England, with Scotland forced to follow suit.

Mr Gove said the UK was a world leader in animal welfare.

He said: “There have been all sorts of myths like these put abut which are nonsense. “They’re stories to scare children at bedtime, not real reflections of policy.”

Mr Rowley demanded to know why, if that was the case, the UK Government was creating legislation that would let Westninster impose lower standards on Scotland against its will. 

Mr Gove tried to reassure the Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP, saying the UK Government did not want lower standards, but Mr Rowley said the Bill would nonetheless allow it.

He warned that, although the Bill exempted health care from a UK-wide ‘mutual recognition’ system, in theory allowing Holyrood to create its own NHS, the Bill also allowed a minister to change this with a simple regulation.

Mr Rowley told him: “Again, those powers sit with Westminster to remove those exclusions for out public services and we, in Scotland, in our Governmentin Scotland would have no right or ability to stop that. Surely that’s not a power surge, surely that a power grab?”

Mr Gove replied: “It may be a lurid fantasy of some that it’s a secret agenda of a government to use this as a Trojan horse to privatise the NHS.

“But it’s one of the most absurd, ludicrous and frankly irrational fantasies that I have heard in my political lifetime.

“The reason that we are so clear about this is because our NHS is not for sale under any circumstances. 

“There are some people who are anxious, as I know, to spread myths about the UK Government, but again if you look at the evidence you can see the way in which we have chosen not just to legislate but to invest in our NHS in an unprecedented way.

“So I think the whole think is ludicrous. You could theoretically say that a future Scottish parliament could vote to abolish support for farmers, and since that’s a theoretical possibility then it’s a danger. But rather than looking at these fantasies, it’s better to look at the reality. 

“And the reality is that Scotland’s farmers and Scotland’s health system are better within the United Kingdom and within the United Kingdom internal market, and nobody has yet seen or produced any evidence to suggest otherwise.”

Mr Rowley told him: “I’m a devolutionist. But can I say to you, it’s not about you saying governments will never do this, you’re creating the legislation that will allow that to happen.

“That’s the key difference. And if you have no intent to see these happen then why create the legislation that will allow that to happen?

“That’s why the people of Scotland are revolting en masse around these issues, and it’s why you will pave the way to independence in Scotland. Not the SNP but you and your friend the Prime Minister.”

Mr Gove said: “When you say people are revolting en masse, I haven’t seen any evidence. 

“I don’t think that this is the talk of the steamie. I don’t think it’s the case that people in Aberdeen and Auchtermuchty are looking at the Internal Market Bill and saying this is a Trojan horse for privatisation of the NHS. If you can find such people who do say that who are not paid up members of the SNP, I’d be very interested to hear from them.

“No, this is a totally confected political myth, and the truth of course is that what we’re doing in this legislation is protecting the internal market and maintaining high standards.

“The one thing that a future European Union might choose to do so, were we to stay in the European Union, is alter the rules of the game in a way that we couldn’t control.

“So leaving the European Union not only strengthens the Uk’s institutions, it also strengthens the capacity of the UK and the devolved administrations to protect that which is dear to us.” 

However pressed by SNP MSP Tom Arthur, Mr Gove said he would look again at the power to let ministers remove the health service protection by regulation, not primary legislation. 

Convener Bruce Crawford also complained about “extraneous nonsense” getting in the way of the session after Mr Gove attacked the state of Scottish education under the SNP.