Meeting of the Parliament 07 February 2017
Unfortunately, we did not have the resources of a Government behind us, and we estimated that the time would be a couple of years. We did not put a hard timescale on that because, although we are keen to do work on the issue, with the two MSPs that we had and the six that we now have, it is no surprise that we are not coming up with a white paper of our own.
Britain is hurtling towards a hard Brexit, turning our back on Europe, cosying up to Donald Trump and looking weaker and weaker by the day. We really must ask ourselves what kind of country we want Scotland to be. This is not only about EU membership; it is about Scotland’s place in the world. Do we want to stick with a country that is so isolated and in need of allies that holding hands with the bigot in the White House is our best chance of securing a trade deal? On that point, we must not forget that the bigot is also a protectionist whose trade negotiators were not famed for giving the other side a good deal before his Administration came in.
Brexit is a monumental change in itself, but it is happening as part of a wider sea change in global politics, in the wake of an economic crisis. To rush into it without anything approaching agreement across these islands, or even a plan from the central Government at Westminster, is simply reckless, and it is certainly not in keeping with the verdict that our constituents gave last June.
Conservative and Labour members have referred to the Greens’ constitutional position, as did Mr Findlay in his intervention. The Greens have been quite clear in our position. Scotland’s options are limited in the UK. During the independence referendum, we were told that Scotland is an equal partner in the union, but that is clearly not the case. It has been confirmed by the Supreme Court that the Sewel convention is merely a political convention that can be overridden at will, despite promises that were made in the run-up to the 2014 referendum.
I expect that the Parliament will today vote against article 50 being triggered. However, that vote, and the vote of the people of Scotland in the EU referendum, will be overridden by Westminster. All members must now ask themselves where they would rather see Scotland. The time for compromise has almost passed—