United approach is best for Brexit, SNP told ahead of EU vote debate
NICOLA Sturgeon has been urged to get behind Theresa May’s Brexit deal instead of trying to divide the UK.
The SNP will today lead a Holyrood debate calling on the UK Government to ‘secure the protection of Scotland’s interests’ after the vote to leave the European Union.
It comes on the same day Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to outline details of her approach to Brexit during a major speech in London.
Ahead of today’s debate, SNP Brexit Minister Michael Russell said a hard Brexit would take Scotland out of ‘a single market eight times bigger than the UK’s alone’.
But the Scottish Conservatives insist trade with the UK is more valuable.
Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: ‘Listening to the SNP, you would be forgiven for thinking that the EU accounted for the majority of our trade and that leaving it will result in economic Armageddon.
‘That is simply not the case, as our trade with the UK is worth over four times more than our trade with the rest of the EU.
‘Together we represent the financial hubs of London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, a significant number of world-class universities and global leadership and expertise across many different sectors. With these strengths there can be no doubt we’ll be in a better position if we negotiate as one team.’
The Scottish Government’s motion for today’s debate states that losing our place in the single market will have a ‘detrimental social and economic impact’.
It adds that if the UK leaves the single market, ‘alternative approaches within the UK should be sought that would enable Scotland to retain its place within the single market and the devolution of necessary powers to the Scottish parliament’.
Mr Russell said: ‘The threat of a Tory hard Brexit, taking us out of a single market eight times bigger than the UK’s alone, is getting bigger by the day.
‘Today’s debate at Holyrood is an important opportunity for our national parliament to make sure Westminster gets the message that Scotland is firmly opposed to such a Tory hard Brexit and its disastrous economic consequences, which are underlined by the fact the pound has been plummeting on the international markets.’
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said last night the divisions between the Tories and SNP are creating ‘a recipe for cold war in Scottish politics’.
She added that Labour would support handing Scotland new immigration controls, allowing granting work visas to migrants which only apply north of the Border.