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The devolved Parliament is expected to have a vote on whether it consented to the so-called great repeal bill which will allow Britain to formally exit the European Union.

Although the vote does not give Scotland a binding veto allowing MSPs to block the bill, a vote against the act could cause a fiery political battle between the Government and

Now David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, has warned MSPs to support the reform bill to prevent the country from facing uncertainty in the future.

With 63 SNP members in Holyrood, only two short of an overall majority, Nicola Sturgeon would just need the support of the Scottish Green’s six MSPs to vote down the legislative consent

motion (LCM).

While the First Minister accepts the parliament would be unable to ultimately block the Brexit bill, she is likely to be aware a veto from Scotland could push the country into a bitter

confrontation with the rest of the UK.

She has already repeated calls for a second referendum following the Brexit vote, in which Scotland voted almost unanimously to remain in the EU.

However, despite conflicts looming, Mr Mundell revealed he was mostly concerned over the huge task of getting the UK to agree on exactly what powers Scotland would get.

He said: "The bill has not been published, so you can't be definitive, but given the great repeal bill will both impact on the responsibilities of this parliament on and on the

responsibilities of Scottish ministers, it's fair to anticipate that it would be the subject of a legislative consent process.

"I think there are really big issues that will be in the great repeal bill, there will be issues around the powers for this parliament and issues around whether we have a hole in our law

because the body of European law hasn't been adopted. 

So not agreeing to the great repeal bill would have very significant consequences.

“So not agreeing to the great repeal bill would have very significant consequences.

"My focus will be to work with the parliament here and the committees here and the Scottish Government to get that agreement."

The bill could repatriate sweeping new powers to Holyrood, including control over farm subsidies, fisheries and employment rules.

And Mr Mundell said criminal justice powers, including over consumer rights, were “the most obvious ones” - while Scotland could push to enshrine EU legislation into Scots law. 

And the Secretary claims these could be instrumental in increasing Holyrood’s autonomy from the rest of Britain.

This, in turn, could further stoke the fires of independence - leaving Scotland in a difficult position.

But the Supreme Court rejected arguments from the Scottish government that Holyrood should be consulted over Brexit, despite ruling that MPs and peers should be given a vote.

The Scottish government argues that while the judges said there was not a legal case for consulting Holyrood, they had underlined a clear political one.

Mr Mundell was in Edinburgh for a meeting with the Scottish government's Brexit minister Mike Russell and Finance Secretary Derek Mackay.

Although he claimed the bill was "entirely a reserved matter", he confirmed he was working on the basis that the Great Repeal Bill would be subject to the legislative consent process.

Mr Mundell also indicated there could be another Scotland Bill produced in order to transfer the new powers to Holyrood, adding: “There could be another Scotland Bill. I’ll frighten my

officials by saying that. 

“It could be dealt with in other ways through other legislative routes. There will be some of form of legislative vehicle.”

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