THE latest draft of the UK Government’s Brexit Bill “doesn’t respect the devolution settlement”, a senior Welsh minister has claimed.

Although the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments had previously called for any devolved powers currently held by the European Union to be handed straight back to the devolved administrations post-Brexit, the latest draft of the EU Withdrawal Bill does not contain a clause to this effect.

And, speaking in the Senedd this week, finance secretary Mark Drakeford, who has been acting as the Welsh Government’s de facto Brexit minister, said the revised version of the bill “doesn’t respect the devolution settlement”.

He added this meant any further amendments to the bill would have to be developed through the House of Lords rather than Parliament

Saying he had “never trusted the Tories on the this or any other matter”, Mr Drakeford said he was writing to new cabinet secretary David Lidington to call for a meeting over the issue.

As the bill currently stands, powers over devolved areas such as farming and the environment will be handed from Europe to Westminster, which will then be responsible for distributing them to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mr Lidington, who replaced Damian Green as Theresa May's right hand man earlier this week, has already spoken to first minister Carwyn Jones, as well as deputy first minister of Scotland John Swinney about the bill.

Speaking after the telephone conversation on Tuesday Mr Jones said: “While our fundamental concerns with the EU withdrawal bill and its implications for devolution remain, we both acknowledged progress has been made in recent months and we are keen to see this momentum continue.

“I reiterated that I am not looking to derail Brexit, but it is vitally important that the final Brexit deal and the resulting legislation must reflect the economic and constitutional priorities of Wales.”

Mr Lidington has also agreed to travel to Cardiff and Edinburgh for bilateral talks.

The new minister said: "The return of powers from the EU will lead to a significant increase in the decision making powers of the devolved administrations.

"As we put these new arrangements in place I am absolutely clear that we must protect the benefits of the UK internal market that are so important to consumers and businesses all across the UK.

"A great deal of progress has been made in recent months on how current EU policy areas will be dealt with as they return to the UK.

"I want to build on that progress and have offered to chair a Joint Ministerial Committee in London and also to hold fresh bilateral talks in both Cardiff and Edinburgh.

"From my talks today I believe that all parties want to find an agreed way forward and I am confident that can be achieved."