Rennie seeks support for public vote on final Brexit terms
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has called on party leaders in Scotland to back a public vote on the final terms of Brexit.
Ahead of a speech in Edinburgh, Mr Rennie said a “united front” north of the Border could make the difference as the UK continues to negotiate withdrawal from the Europe- an Union. His previous calls to give the electorate a say on the Brexit terms were rejected by opposition parties.
However, at the Liberal Democrats’ party conference earlier this month, Mr Rennie said he would “open talks with the Scottish Government” to win its support.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last week that a referendum on the final deal for leaving the EU “probably gets more and more difficult to resist”.
Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has also backed another vote if the Brexit deal takes the UK out of the single market.
But Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard, the MSPS vying to replace her, have both rejected her call for a second ballot.
Mr Rennie was due to address the Scottish Centre on European Relations and Edinburgh University’s Europa Institute yesterday.
He said it would be in the Scottish Government’ s intereststo back the lib de ms’ position.
“Their preferred solution was another independence referendum,” he said. “But they have cooled on the idea as people in Scotland have made it clear that we have settled the independence question.”