Harvie: Scotland needs Brexit escape
Scottish Greens Parliamentary Co Leader Patrick Harvie MSP will bring a vote to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday, calling for the UK’s notification under Article 50 of the treaty of the EU to be withdrawn, unless Theresa May secures a longer extension to the Brexit process and organises a people’s vote.
A cross party group of politicians led by Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer won a case in the European Court last year, which ruled that the UK could unilaterally withdraw its Article 50 notification at any time prior to its exit from the EU.
The Scottish Greens have consistently opposed Brexit on principle, and threw their weight behind the People’s Vote campaign at the party conference in October. Mr Harvie says that while this is still his party’s first choice to stop Brexit, given time constraints a unilateral revocation may be the only option.
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
“The people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union. The Scottish Parliament has repeatedly sought compromise in order to mitigate this impending disaster, yet the Prime Minister has failed to listen at every stage. She finds herself desperately scraping around for the support of the ERG fanatics and the reprehensible DUP.
“Many people across the UK are now waking up to the crisis before us, with over one million marching in London at the weekend and many millions more making their views known by signing the petition to revoke Article 50. It’s clear that people are not going to allow the Tories to drag us into a hellish hard right Brexit.
“The UK Government is in shambles. The Prime Minister must seek a longer extension in order to put the question back to the people. If she is unwilling to countenance this, the only option remaining is to revoke Article 50 unilaterally.”