‘New vote’ call as Jo Johnson quits
ANIMAL welfare experts at a Scottish wildlife centre are caring for their first rescued grey seal pups of the season.
One was rescued in Aberdeenshire while the other was recovered from a beach in Thurso in the Highlands.
The Scottish SPCA expects to look after more than 100 grey seal pups of various ages over the course of the autumn and winter season.
This season, pups cared for at its centre in Fishcross, Clackmannanshire, will be given Harry Potter-themed names and the first two have been named Harry and Mad-Eye.
Centre manager Colin Seddon said: “We received our JO Johnson has resigned from Theresa May’s Government in protest at her Brexit plan, warning the UK faced a choice between “vassalage” under her proposed deal or the “chaos” of crashing out of the EU.
Mr Johnson quit as transport minister and minister for London in order to vote against the Brexit deal whenever it comes before Parliament and called for the public to be given a second referendum.
The senior Tory, who campaigned for Remain, follows his Leave-supporting brother Boris out of Mrs May’s government.
The former foreign secretary quit in July in protest at Mrs May’s handling of Brexit.
In a blog, Jo Johnson said: “It has become increasingly clear to me that the withdrawal agreement, which is being finalised in Brussels and Whitehall even as I write, will be a terrible mistake.
“Indeed, the choice being presented to the British people is no choice at all.
“The first option is the one the Government is proposing: an agreement that will leave our country economically weakened, with no say in the EU rules it must follow and years of uncertainty for business.
“The second option is a no-deal Brexit first seal pups, Mad-Eye and Harry, on November 2.
“Harry is around three to four weeks old and Mad-Eye is between four and five weeks.
“Harry was brought to us by the British Divers marine life rescue team after he was found with several wounds and an infected flipper in Boddan, Aberdeenshire. Jo Johnson has resigned over Brexit deal ‘chaos’
that I know as a transport minister will inflict untold damage on our nation.
“To present the nation with a choice between two deeply unattractive outcomes, vassalage and chaos, is a failure of British statecraft on a scale unseen since the Suez crisis.”
He added: “Given that the reality of Brexit has turned out to be so far from what was once promised, the democratic thing to do is to give the public the final say.”
Boris Johnson backed his brother’s decision, saying: “We may not have agreed about Brexit but we are united in dismay at the intellectually and politically indefensible of the UK position.”
Jo Johnson acknowledged that the Brexit
“Mad-Eye was found on Dunnet Beach in Thurso. As his name might suggest, he came to us with a collapsed eye which will have to be removed.
“We often do release seals with one eye, so we are hopeful Mad-Eye will still eventually enjoy a full life in the wild.” negotiations “have at least united us in fraternal dismay”.
He acknowledged a no-deal Brexit could result in “Kent becoming the Lorry Park of England”, with real questions about guaranteeing supplies of food and medicines.
But even a no-deal Brexit “may well be better than the never-ending purgatory” that Mrs May’s plan would offer.
However, in a pointed message to his brother and other Brexiteers, he said: “Inflicting such serious economic and political harm on the country will leave an indelible impression of incompetence in the minds of the public. It cannot be what you wanted, nor did the 2016 referendum provide any mandate for it.”
He said the public should be asked to confirm their decision to leave the EU and, if they choose to do that, whether to accept Mrs May’s plan or leave without a deal.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The referendum in 2016 was the biggest democratic exercise in this country’s history. We will not under any circumstances have a second referendum.
“The Prime Minister thanks Jo Johnson for his work in Government.”