The tension between maintaining devolved powers and the need to preserve the UK’s internal market was illustrated by UK constitution minister Chris Skidmore MP’s response last week to a House of Lords Brexit devolution report.

Skidmore said that new frameworks might be needed to ensure the UK internal market can function.

“The powers currently held by the EU that provide that guarantee on the internal market are not within the competence of the devolved administrations,” he explained.

The Lords EU Committee concluded that without any change in UK law, Brexit would lead to a significant increase in the powers and responsibilities of the devolved institutions, which could exacerbate a situation of “overlapping and shared competencies”, which has hitherto been held in check by the supremacy of EU law.

The Committee called on the Government to address these “fundamental constitutional challenges working in a spirit of partnership and cooperation with the devolved legislatures and governments”.