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Ian Cloke
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Anglers on rivers in England face fines from Scots
English anglers fishing on English rivers could be fined up to ?2,500 for breaching laws passed in Edinburgh by the Scottish Parliament, it emerged yesterday.
MPs voiced concern after it emerged that Westminster is about to lose its power to approve changes in the laws governing the Tweed and its tributaries on the border be-tween England and Scotland.
The latest row centres on an obscure Parliamentary Order - the Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order - debated in the Commons last week.
The management of the river comes under ministers in the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh. However, if they want to introduce new laws on the days when people can fish or what lines they use, the changes have to be approved by both Westminster and the Scottish Parliament. Westminster's role recognises the fact that a section of the Tweed either runs through England or along the border. In addition, one of the Tweed's main tributaries - the Till - is an entirely English river running through Northumberland.
Under the new order Edinburgh will no longer have to seek approval of Westminster for any changes.
The order was criticised last night by Alan Beith, the Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed.
"My concern is that one of my constituents comes to me to complain that he has been prosecuted for fishing on an English river for breaking a law passed in Edinburgh and I will have to tell him there is nothing I can do as a Westminster MP," he said.
English anglers fishing on English rivers could be fined up to ?2,500 for breaching laws passed in Edinburgh by the Scottish Parliament, it emerged yesterday.
MPs voiced concern after it emerged that Westminster is about to lose its power to approve changes in the laws governing the Tweed and its tributaries on the border be-tween England and Scotland.
The latest row centres on an obscure Parliamentary Order - the Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order - debated in the Commons last week.
The management of the river comes under ministers in the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh. However, if they want to introduce new laws on the days when people can fish or what lines they use, the changes have to be approved by both Westminster and the Scottish Parliament. Westminster's role recognises the fact that a section of the Tweed either runs through England or along the border. In addition, one of the Tweed's main tributaries - the Till - is an entirely English river running through Northumberland.
Under the new order Edinburgh will no longer have to seek approval of Westminster for any changes.
The order was criticised last night by Alan Beith, the Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed.
"My concern is that one of my constituents comes to me to complain that he has been prosecuted for fishing on an English river for breaking a law passed in Edinburgh and I will have to tell him there is nothing I can do as a Westminster MP," he said.