THE under-fire Tory Immigration Bill is not only “morally repugnant,” but a challenge to the devolution settlement, a Labour peer has argued.

Socialist Baroness Pauline Bryan said that the proposed legislation “will compel devolved nations to violate the duties set out in international law.”

The Bill came under attack from all sides of the House of Lords earlier this week on the basis that it would be at odds with Britain’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

It passed its first stage in the Lords after some Labour peers abstained from voting.

Ms Bryan told the chamber: “The right established by the EHCR are written into Scotland’s devolution settlement and have been fundamental to the work of the Scottish Parliament for over 20 years.

“Scottish ministers cannot act in a way that is incompatible with the convention and all legislation must be compatible.

“There is a clear consensus that this Bill will breach the Convention and leave the Scottish Parliament in an invidious position under international law.”

Earlier in her speech, she referred to the comments made last month by Tory peer, Lord Frost, who had said it was “time to stop” devolution — a view she argued ministers “may not be ready yet to state as clearly,” but one that would effectively be implemented by the Bill.

Scotland had a legal duty to support victims of trafficking under 2015’s Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act, Ms Bryan said, which is an act the Immigration Bill would oblige authorities to break.

Quoting the Scottish Refugee Council, which described the Bill as “morally repugnant,” she added: “Under this government we are experiencing endless Bills that contravene natural justice and encroach on devolved powers.

“At some point we have to say this must stop.

“This Bill should be where we draw the line and say: ‘not in our name’.”