Be in no doubt, May lied to Parly over her Brexit deal
LAST week in the House of Commons, I called out Theresa May for what she is – a liar or rather, because doing so is deemed “unparliamentary”, I had to say she “perhaps misled” the House.
But there should be no doubt, the Prime Minster has lied to Parliament and the public over her Brexit deal.
It was during Prime Minister’s Questions when I asked the Prime Minister to explain why she continues to deny Scotland the rights and opportunities her Brexit deal offers other parts of the UK.
Earlier that morning, legal advice the UK Government received on Brexit was published to reveal what they had hoped would be kept confidential – the special deal Theresa May had created for Northern Ireland when the UK leaves the EU was permanent, despite claims it would be temporary, making clear the disadvantage Scotland faces by comparison.
Northern Ireland of course has special circumstances – their peace has been long fought for and the terms of the Good Friday Agreement must be respected. But not only are the Tories planning to make Scotland poorer by dragging us out of Europe against our will, they also want to put us at a competitive disadvantage within the UK.
People in Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the EU and this is the preference of the SNP.
We have consistently argued that Scotland, which voted by a 62 per cent majority to remain in the EU, should have its decision respected – protecting jobs, living standards and our NHS.
If the opportunity to stay in Europe is possible through a second EU referendum then the SNP will back giving people that choice.
However, the party have – for over two years – made clear that they could back a compromise that keeps the UK and Scotland in the European single market, which is eight times bigger than the UK alone.
But when we asked for Scotland to stay in the single market to protect jobs and living standards, we were told by the Prime Minister this wasn’t possible. How can that be fair?
Since the EU referendum, the UK Government have lurched from one crisis to another. In recent weeks the Prime Minister has lost two Brexit secretaries, a home secretary, a foreign secretary and a work and pensions secretary. Last week, the Government suffered three consecutive defeats in the voting lobbies in just two hours – the first government to do so in 40 years. And then the Government were found to be in contempt of Parliament for concealing the facts on the Brexit deal from members of Parliament and from the public.
And just when you think it couldn’t get much worse for the Tories– they are preparing for an embarrassing defeat tomorrow when the Brexit deal is put to MPs for a vote.
The SNP cannot support this deal. We have reiterated that we are the only party with a clear, consistent and sensible approach to Brexit. We were promised strong and stable, but what we have is a government in crisis.