A BILL designed to give the UK Government more powers to spend in Wales after Brexit is not a “power grab” by Westminster, the Welsh Secretary has insisted.

The Welsh Government accused its UK counterpart of planning to steal powers from the devolved administrations with the publication of the Internal Market Bill.

The Bill transfers powers from the EU to the UK Government to spend on areas such as economic development, infrastructure and sport and would replace existing EU funding programmes.

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart told the Welsh Affairs Select Committee he was “mystified” at the reaction from Cardiff and accused the administration of playing “politics”.

“I think I was probably more mystified than surprised, if there is a difference, because I don’t recognise some of the accusations being made about the UK Internal Markets Bill,” Mr Hart said.

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“The accusation by the Welsh Government was that this was a power grab.

“That’s the mystifying bit for me because Welsh Government will actually have 70 additional powers as a consequence of this process than they currently have.

“There isn’t a single thing that they currently do, not one, which they would not be able to do when this process passes through its legislative stages.

“I would like to know what powers the Welsh Government currently enjoys that it wouldn’t be able to enjoy when the UK Internal Market Bill becomes law.”

The minister said it was not the case the UK Government had decided to impose the Bill on the devolved administrations and said there had been a wide consultation through a White Paper before the draft legislation was published.

“There have, on things like common frameworks, been discussions ongoing for several years,” Mr Hart said.

“So the notion that somehow there was a moment and we thought ‘To hell with this’ where we’re proceeding on our own; that has never been the case, it isn’t now and it isn’t the case in the future.”

Mr Hart said that businesses he had spoken to saw the logic of what the UK Government was doing.

“I was surprised that the Welsh Government chose to take a rather sort of contrary view to all of the businesses that we spoke to and submitted their views to the consultation process,” he said.

“Those views were not reflected by Welsh Government, which makes me think that this action is about politics, and the community who responded to the consultations was about jobs and livelihoods.

“That is quite a worrying diversion.”

Mr Hart was asked whether there had been a breakdown in trust between the UK Government and the Welsh Government.

“I think if we look at our responsibilities through the prism of jobs and livelihoods, then it shouldn’t,” Mr Hart replied.

“If we look at these things simply through the prism of political power, then there is a distinction between us.”