Council to discuss supporting second Brexit vote

Tusk will propose emergency EU summit in warning of time running out

Aberdeenshire Council will become the first authority in Scotland to formally discuss another Brexit referendum next week.

Councillor Martin Ford has submitted a motion ahead of next week’ s full council meeting which asks councillors to support the campaign for a referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal, and the option for a further vote to remain in the EU.

The motion submitted reads: “Brexit is expected to have significant economic and demographic consequences for Aberdeenshire. Depending on any terms agreed, there will be loss of access to markets and labour predicted to negatively affect the economy.

“Accordingly, Aberdeenshire Council supports the holding of a further referendum to give the UK public the final say on any terms agreed for Brexit, that referendum to include the option of the UK remaining in the EU.”

Councillors will discuss the motion on Thursday.

A spokesman for the People’s Vote campaign, whose petition has received more than 300,000 signatures, last night said: “Brexit is driving up prices, making foreign holidays more expensive and threatening jobs and investment. And we haven’t even left yet. People’s Vote polling shows voters in Scotland support the public having the final say on any deal by 48% to 31%, so Aberdeenshire councillors would be standing up for their voters if they back Councillor Ford’s proposal.”

Theresa May insisted her Chequers plan was the only possible route to a Brexit deal after European Union chiefs told her key elements of the proposals had to be “reworked”.

The prime minister was using a gathering of EU leaders in Salzburg to personally set out the government’s blueprint for Brexit but was warned time is running out to reach a deal.

European Council president Donald Tusk said the prime minister’s Chequers blueprint was a “welcome evolution” in the UK’s approach but major issues remained to be resolved including avoiding a hard border in Ireland and the future trading relationship between Britain and the EU.

Warning that there was “less and less time” to reach a deal before the UK’s March 29 2019 exit date, Mr Tusk confirmed he would propose an emergency EU Brexit summit in November.

Arriving at the meeting in Salzburg, Mrs May said Chequers was “the only credible and negotiable plan on the table that delivers no hard border in Northern Ireland and also delivers on the vote of the British people”.

She added: “If we are going to achieve a successful conclusion then, just as the UK has evolved its position, the EU will need to evolve its position too.”

Her comments came just hours after Mr Tusk said that on key issues “the UK’s proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated”.

Meanwhile, the domestic difficulties facing Mrs May – which EU leaders are all too aware of – were further illustrated as it emerged her former Brexit secretary David Davis has described Chequers as a “nonstarter”.

In extracts of a speech he plans to deliver in Munich today, Mr Davis said the PM’s plan crossed all of her own negotiating red lines.

He said: “Chequers is devoid of democracy altogether. This is why many of us will shortly be presenting an alternative plan which will outline a more ambitious vision.”

Ahead of the summit in Austria, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he was ready to come forward with a new offer on the Irish border.

However, Mrs May’s DUP allies poured cold water on the suggestion and the prime minister stressed she would not be prepared to accept anything that resulted in Northern Ireland effectively being “carved away” from the rest of the UK.

In order to “de-dramatise” the main obstacle to a withdrawal deal, Mr Barnier suggested arrangements could be made to conduct the majority of checks on imports and exports away from the border itself.

The Democratic Unionist Party, which props up Mrs May’s minority administration in parliament, dismissed Mr Barnier’s proposals as unpalatable, because they would involve a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

“It still means a border down the Irish Sea although with different kinds of checks,” said the party’s deputy leader, Nigel Dodds.

The Salzburg meeting came as campaigners in the UK published a roadmap setting out how MPs could force the prime minister to accept what they call a People’s Vote on her deal, with the option of remaining in the EU.

But Mrs May slapped down any suggestion that her government could hold a so-called People’s Vote.

“I want to be absolutely clear, this government will never accept a second referendum,” she said.

“The British people voted to leave the European Union and we will be leaving on March 29 2019.”

She challenged the Labour leadership to rule out the prospect of support for a second referendum – something that is likely to be a hot topic as Jeremy Corbyn’s party gathers for its conference in Liverpool starting on Sunday.

“Just as the UK has evolved its position, the EU will need to”