The report comes as MPs have voiced concerns over mounting Brexit tensions over London’s relationship with Edinburgh, with the latter openly declaring its wish to secede from the Union as the 31 October deadline to withdraw from the EU approaches.
The UK’s Scottish Affairs committee has mulled its future as a government body and may be replaced with a unitary body to oversee operations with Edinburgh, a report published on Friday revealed.
He added: “We are therefore calling for a review of the role of the Scotland Office and the Secretary of State for Scotland, which we argue should include an exploration of the option to combine the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Offices into one department responsible for intergovernmental relations and devolution.
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced in April that Scotland would hold a second independence referendum vote by the end of Parliament’s term set to expire in 2021, arguing that the vote would be a “choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation.” Following the 2016 EU referendum and failed negotiations with Brussels over a post-Brexit withdrawal agreement, divisions between London and Edinburgh rose dramatically, with SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford repeatedly calling for Scottish independence in Commons.