Holyrood to get vote on Brexit deal

MSPS at Holyrood will vote on the EU Withdrawal agreement before it comes before the Commons, Scotland Brexit secretary Michael Russell has confirmed.

But he branded the deal an “assault” on Holyrood’s powers and said it was “essentially dead” in a statement to MSPS yesterday.

“This is not just a bad deal because it will damage our future relationship with Europe, but because it also creates the pretext for a continued unconstitutional assault on the rights and privileges of the people of Scotland as exercised through this Parliament,” he said.

“It is an attempt to unsettle the will of the Scottish people, whilst eroding the rights of and imperilling the future prosperity of everyone who lives in this country.

“What is being offered is unacceptable.”

He added: “The Scottish Government will bring the deal, if agreed at the Brussels Summit on 25 November to this chamber for a vote before a vote takes place in the House of Commons.”

Mr Russell described the Withdrawal agreement as the “worst and most damaging decision made by a UK Government in any of our lifetimes”.

He said: “The UK Government has attempted, voluntarily and for its own selfish purposes, to actually lower the standard of living for the citizens of Scotland and to distance itself from the global benefits of the world’s largest free trade block.”

Mr Russell said the deal was the result of a series of “selfimposed draconian red lines” by the Prime Minister.

“The death of her deal over the past 24 hours – for it is now essentially dead – arises from the same insularity, the same wrong headedness,” he said. “She has only herself to blame for the appalling circumstances she finds herself in – appalling circumstances not just for her, but for all of us on these islands.”