MEETING U.S. PRESIDENT AND HIS FEARS OVER BREXIT
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aware of the animosity many voters feel for the Tories, the MP urged people to get behind Prime Minister Theresa May and her Brexit proposals.
He insisted it was the “only credible alternative” to a “disastrous” EU exit that could “crash the Scottish and UK economy”.
Mundell added: “I want an outcome that respects the referendum while leaving in an orderly basis that allows trade to continue.
“I hope that people in Scotland, and sensible politicians across the spectrum who don’t want us to crash out, will recognise this is the only credible alternative. The proposals accept we are leaving and address the issues people had for wanting that to happen, while making arrangements for goods and agricultural products to be bought and sold.
“Michel Barnier is already suggesting there are bits he doesn’t like but we need to sell this deal to the other countries.
“I think an agreement is possible because the key member states don’t want the disruption of the UK crashing out.
“I want to build support for that agreement across the country and I hope people in Scotland can see it is the best way forward.
“I also think there are some benefits, for example, the Common Fisheries Policy has been universally bad for Scotland’s fishing communities and is one area where there will be opportunities.
“I’m not underestimating the challenges. Nobody has left the EU before and it’s a hugely complicated and large task. But having no deal at all and simply crashing out next March would be disastrous.”
Mundell also made clear his objection to a second vote on the EU deal, adding: “I’m opposed to another referendum. We’ve had a vote and people expected that to be decisive.
“It’s a big assumption that if we had another vote enough people would change
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their minds and opt to remain. I don’t think that would necessarily be the outcome.”
Mundell refused to be drawn on whether May could survive the Brexit crisis and continue to lead the country.
He added: “I won’t speculate on that but I think she’s the best person to take us through the negotiations and I admire her resilience and decency in a very turbulent environment. I’ve great admiration for her.”
Mundell, however, is clearly worried about the prospect of a Boris Johnson takeover of his party.
Johnson resigned as foreign secretary in protest at May’s Brexit deal following a cabinet summit at Chequers.
Mundell added: “I’m in the centre ground from a political perspective.
“I think it’s well known that I’m not Boris’s No1 fan. I find him very personable but I don’t follow his ideology or approach to politics. On the other hand, he’s a big character and people always say they want more characters in politics.
“Jacob Rees-Mogg is one of those people too. These are people with genuinely held views but you need to look at the options on the table and be realistic about them.
“No deal is not a good alternative and the only viable alternative to that is the one that Theresa May has put on the table.
“Boris didn’t agree with the Chequers proposals and I think it would have been helpful if he’d said at the time he couldn’t go along with it. You can’t have collective responsibility if everybody isn’t prepared to sign up to it.”
Mundell grew up in Newton Wamphray and Lockerbie and attended Lockerbie Academy before studying law in Edinburgh.
He joined the Young Conservatives aged 14 but switched to the Social Democratic Party in 1981 before reverting to the Tories.
Two years ago, he publicly came out as gay after writing a blog on his website.
He has three children from his previous marriage to Lynda Carmichael and his son Oliver is a Tory MSP. Mundell yesterday left the UK on a trade mission to New Zealand.
The Secretary of State for Scotland will be promoting our national drink and farming technology on the trip.
He said: “We’re going to have a deeper trading relationship with New Zealand after we leave the EU so I want to build on that relationship.
“I’ll be meeting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her deputy.
“I’ll be promoting whisky at an event on the first day and the aim is to show Scotland is open for business. Agriculture technology is another huge area we will be promoting.
“Scotland is a world leader in taking a scientific approach to farming through the use of IT to manage crops and animals.
“It can be things like the use of drones for surveying crops and building data tables – ground-breaking stuff that’s actually being developed just outside Edinburgh.
“It’s big business and a market potentially worth hundreds of millions that Scotland can capitalise on.”