Meeting of the Parliament 15 May 2025
Douglas Lumsden is correct. Everything that happens—anything that the SNP sees on the 6 o’clock news—becomes a reason for breaking up the United Kingdom and an excuse for holding another referendum. Let us be clear that the SNP’s approach is not so much about strengthening ties with Europe as it is about weakening the bonds of Britain.
All of that comes wrapped up in staggering hypocrisy. The motion speaks of “closer ... climate co-operation”, while the SNP Government has no energy strategy, blocks nuclear power, sabotages oil and gas, and presides over wind farm developments that are collapsing under its own broken planning regime. It also talks of food and drink agreements, but it is the United Kingdom Government—not the EU—that is out there, fighting for Scottish exports. It is UK trade deals that are promoting around the world the Scotch whisky and Scottish salmon produced in our fantastic food and drink sector.
The motion laments that devolved Governments have not seen the draft EU summit texts, but it seems that the Financial Times has. Its report reveals that the EU is back to its usual ways of doing business. Let us not pretend that the SNP would use that information in good faith—even if it had access to it, which it apparently does not. It does not want a good deal for Britain—it wants a bad one, because it exists on a diet of political division and grievance. That is entirely why, this Thursday afternoon, we are here, taking up the Parliament’s time. The debate simply offers another opportunity for the SNP to fester that grievance.
I know that Brexit is not a finished job. However, the answer is not to go backwards but to defend and deepen our sovereignty, to use our freedoms to grow enterprise, to cut red tape and to secure the best deals for the UK on our terms. We cannot afford to drift back under the orbit of Brussels by stealth, nor can we allow an unelected European court to stand above our Parliament, our judges and our voters.
Scotland’s future lies not in surrendering our sovereignty to the EU or in surrendering our prosperity to nationalist ideology; it lies in standing proud as part of a strong, globally trading, forward-looking United Kingdom. This Parliament should reject the motion, it should reject the SNP’s dream of dependency, and it should reject Labour’s quiet sell-out of Brexit. Let us instead build a confident Scotland at the heart of a sovereign United Kingdom, looking not to Brussels but to the rest of the world.
I move amendment S6M-17539.4, to leave out from “agrees” to end and insert:
“recognises that foreign affairs, including the country’s relationship with the EU, trade and immigration are reserved matters, and calls on the Scottish Government to dedicate more parliamentary time towards tackling the issues that matter to most people in Scotland, such as improving NHS waiting times, raising Scotland’s falling attainment standards, addressing school violence and bringing down bills for taxpayers.”
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.