To paraphrase the poet Ted Hughes, there has long been a sharp hot stink of fudge surrounding the tricky issue of Scotland’s relations with the European Union.

That cloying aroma dispersed somewhat this week with the UK / EU deal, including fisheries. It is now beyond doubt that any continuing role for Holyrood is vanishingly small.

To be clear from the outset, that may not be a consequence of political machination. It may simply be inevitable, a factor of political reality. It may even provide welcome clarity.

That has not forestalled SNP protests. In the Holyrood chamber, Angus Robertson noted that the EU deal had been reached “without the explicit agreement” of the devolved Scottish Government. That was, he said, “an affront to devolution”.

Responding, Labour’s Neil Bibby said the External Affairs Minister was “miserable, opportunistic and inconsistent.” For the Tories, Tim Eagle said the SNP would take Scotland back into the Common Fisheries Policy – an outcome he called a “horror show”.

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Mr Robertson’s objection was that fisheries, as a topic, is devolved to Holyrood. Yet it had featured in the EU deal without any consultation with the Scottish Government. He listed the meetings, cancelled by Whitehall, when the topic could have been raised.

UK Government sources say this is limp nonsense. They say the Scottish Government was consulted in generic terms, including at a meeting just prior to the talks, while conceding that........

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