The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
MPs should not be ‘railroaded’ into bad deal: Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon will warn MPs should not be “railroaded” into accepting a bad or blindfold deal on Brexit on the grounds that no deal would be catastrophic.
In a speech in London, Scotland’s first minister will say MPs do not have to fall for such a “false choice” and there are other options.
She will set out an alternative to the Brexit choices being considered by prime minister Theresa May during a keynote speech at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) today.
Ms Sturgeon is expected to say: “The UK Government has spent two years asserting that no deal is better than a bad deal. However they will almost certainly try to railroad MPs into accepting a bad or blindfold deal on the grounds that no deal would be a catastrophe.
“They are threatening us with fire, to make us choose the frying pan.
“MPs do not have to fall for that false choice. Other options are available. Voting against a bad or blindfold deal isn’t a vote for no deal. It would be a vote to open the door to a better deal.
“In fact if the UK Government comes back to Parliament with a bad or blindfold deal, voting against it is the only chance the Westminster parliament will have to reset the negotiations and think again.”
As part of her speech, the First Minister will launch a new paper from the Scottish Government – Scotland’s Place in Europe: Our Way Forward.
In the June 2016 referendum, Scotland voted by 62% to 38% in favour of remaining in the EU.
Writing in her foreword to the paper, Ms Sturgeon says: “The UK Government’s position is increasingly absurd. Insisting on pursuing proposals they have been told will not work while rejecting a plan that will.”