Hansard

We live in uncertain times. The social, political and economic order has been turned upside down. It will take many months and years for us to fully grasp the consequences, but we have already seen the collapse in the pound and the fall in the value of companies. Businesses are uncertain about future investment, and those whose jobs rely on our access to the EU single market worry about what the future holds.

I echo what others have said in their messages to EU migrants who live and work in Scotland: they contribute not just to our economy but to the society and the culture that we have built together. On behalf of members on the Labour benches, I say to the 180,000 EU migrants who live in Scotland, “You are welcome.” Twenty per cent of them live here in Edinburgh—a city that I have the great honour of representing in this Parliament. Here, 74 per cent voted to remain—one of the highest results in the whole of the United Kingdom—but I know that there are people in this great city who, despite the support from their neighbours, now feel ill at ease. People who have built their lives here now feel unsettled and anxious. While we fight for their rights and against a rise in racism, we must also continue to show them love and understanding.

We must also understand, however, that there were a million Scots who voted to leave the European Union. The leave campaign contained some of the worst dog-whistle racism and xenophobia I have heard in my life—dog whistles that turned to foghorns whenever Nigel Farage spoke or unveiled a poster.

That does not make every leave voter a xenophobe or a right-winger. There are working-class communities here in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, just as there are in Sunderland and Sheffield, who feel powerless and who are angry at the establishment. I was at the Glasgow count. I saw boxes in the First Minister’s own constituency split 50/50. Here in Edinburgh, in the seat that I sought to represent, the poorest communities wanted out, in Niddrie as they did in Sighthill and elsewhere in the city. The result, even in Scotland, is not as straightforward as some have sought to pretend it is. All of us in this chamber have a duty to better understand that, to listen and to act upon what we hear.

But we did not vote as communities, constituencies, towns or even nations; we voted as one country: the United Kingdom—a country that we Scots reaffirmed our commitment to just 18 months ago. Millions of Scots want to be part of both unions, and that is why it is so important that we give the First Minister our support to do everything that she can to secure Scotland’s place in the European Union.

So, the Labour Party will support the Government’s efforts to do the best that it can to mitigate the worst of Brexit and to strengthen Scotland’s ties with our European neighbours and allies. The priority must be to secure jobs and the rights of workers. All options for protecting Scotland’s place in the single market must be explored, including a federalised United Kingdom, which could see those nations of the UK that voted to remain retain their membership or achieve associated status.

The Labour Party stands ready to offer assistance where we can to the Government, but that support is not unconditional. Soon, this Parliament will go into recess and not return for two months. It used to be said that a week was a long time in politics; just now, a day in British politics feels like a lifetime and, in that context, two months is an eternity—a recall of Parliament cannot be ruled out. The First Minister may leave this chamber with the faith of these benches to speak to Europe in the best interest of securing Scotland’s future in both the EU and the UK—but that faith can be maintained only with regular communication, involvement and briefings from the Government to Opposition parties, and only with a continued understanding that, as First Minister, she travels to Europe with a duty to represent Scots who voted yes and who voted no, and Scots who voted remain and leave. That faith would be betrayed if, at any point, the First Minister tried to present our support for today’s motion as support for a second independence referendum.

On that basis, we cannot support the Tory amendment, because it removes support for the Government to speak to EU institutions and member states about Scotland’s future. The last line of the Tory amendment also says

“that the challenges of leaving the EU are not addressed by leaving the UK, Scotland’s own union of nations, biggest market and closest friends.”

Let me warn Ruth Davidson that she had better not dare to suggest that Labour’s failure to back her amendment is somehow a failure to back the United Kingdom.

I struggle to put into words the anger I feel towards her party at the moment—an anger that has been building since David Cameron announced English votes for English laws within minutes of the Scottish independence referendum result and that grew when her party set Scottish voters against English voters in a hugely divisive and disingenuous 2015 campaign. It is anger at a Tory party that forced the EU referendum on a country that did not want it just to resolve an ego contest within the party; and anger at a Tory campaign in last month’s election that told people that all that mattered was whether they were a unionist or a nationalist. It was a campaign that had no vision whatsoever for Scotland and that boiled down to just two key messages: that people can trust only the Tories to protect the union—how is that going now, Ruth?—and that the Tories would offer a strong opposition. All that the Tories stand opposed to today is giving the First Minister some support to speak to EU institutions about our future. The Tories have put the future of the United Kingdom in danger at every turn and it is high time that they shouldered responsibility for that.

The priority on the Labour benches is to focus on jobs and the economy and to make the best of a very bad situation. At decision time, we will support the Government to do just that.