Hansard

I thank the First Minister for advance notice of her statement.

Too often, political events are described as “seismic” or “earth-shattering” when, in truth, the tremors are more for politicians than for working people. Last week’s referendum was not one of those events, but was a defining moment in our country’s story. It is deeply significant for all of us. I find myself reflecting that at this time just seven days ago I was in final preparations for the BBC debate in which I argued in favour of the European Union, and in which I was told that we were overplaying the impact of Brexit. Well, a week is indeed a long time in politics. It turns out, after all, that major constitutional decisions, such as on the EU or on Scottish independence, really do have major economic consequences.

Last week’s decision was not the one that I supported and not one that I campaigned for, and I am deeply disappointed by the result. However, the first message that I want to send today is that my belief in our capacity to meet the challenges that we face as Scots and as members of United Kingdom has not diminished by one inch. The challenges are great and they are complex. There are questions upon questions, and more have not yet been formulated, never mind been answered. However, we are a nation with a fundamentally strong economy, an educated workforce, a developed diplomatic network and the capacity to overcome the challenges that we face. Of that, I am certain.

We are seeking today to amend the Government’s motion, but let me begin by setting out where we wish to support it. First and foremost, let us unite in this Parliament in saying to people here from across the European Union: “You are welcome, you are wanted, your contribution is recognised and this is your home.” [Applause.] Too often, I fear, the referendum debate was guilty of discussing the contribution of EU migrants to this country as some sort of necessary evil to fill in the gaps in our labour market. So, let us say it loud and clear: “We do not need just your labour: we want your values, your brains and your culture, and we want you.”

Let us also unite in expressing our disgust at the racist insults and attacks that EU citizens have faced in the days since the referendum. It is shaming to our country, and it is not done in our name.

Secondly, the Scottish Conservatives today wish to pledge our support for the Scottish Government’s full engagement with the UK Government and other devolved Administrations in the coming weeks and months, as Britain’s renegotiations are taken forward. It cannot be overstated how important the new settlement will be for all of us. It will define our new relationship with the European Union for the coming generations, so it is vital that we get it right and it is vital that all voices are heard in putting that deal together.

I want the First Minister of Scotland to be involved, I want the First Ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland involved and—having stood alongside him last week and having seen him take on my Conservative colleagues and argue for his city—I can say absolutely that I want the mayor of London at the table, too. I am pleased that the Prime Minister has repeatedly made it clear that he wants the devolved Administrations to be integrally involved. That is the correct way to progress.

Even though the vote was to leave the EU, our amendment makes it clear that we want to protect and maximise Scotland’s place in Europe the continent and in the European single market. I am not going to try and pretend today that that will be easy: my scepticism is on the record. However, we all now have a duty to the many people whose jobs rely on trade with EU member states to put our scepticism to one side and to push for the best possible deal. In so doing, we need to ask ourselves some practical questions. Do we want Scotland to remain subject to EU law? Do we want powers over matters including farming, fishing and the environment to be held in Brussels or to be devolved to this Parliament? How do we protect the passporting rights of Scotland’s financial services?

Those are just some of the practical tasks that will lie ahead in the short and medium terms. However, in saying that, I do not try today to brush aside the more fundamental consequences of last week’s result—consequences that have, for those of us here in Scotland, a wider and deeper significance. As our amendment makes clear, Scotland and Northern Ireland are to leave the European Union even though a majority of their people do not want it. In response, the First Minister has made it clear in the days since the vote that she wants to explore what options are available to Scotland.

Again, let me say where we agree with the First Minister. We welcome the formation of a standing council of experts on the issue. We are, indeed, in unprecedented territory, so the more expertise that we have, the better. If the Scottish Government wants to explore Scotland’s options from within the United Kingdom, we can support the First Minister in that.

However, it is about the stage after that that we have become concerned about the Scottish Government’s approach, in the days since the result. I cannot ignore the fact that, within hours of the vote becoming clear on Friday morning, the Scottish Government had pushed questions of independence to front and centre. I cannot ignore the First Minister’s Dover House announcement that she had already instructed Government officials to start drawing up the necessary legislation for a second referendum on independence. I cannot ignore it when I hear the First Minister justify that on the basis that the UK, as constituted in 2014, “no longer exists”, and I cannot ignore the SNP’s Westminster leader telling the House of Commons that, in order for Scotland to remain a European country, an independence referendum may have to happen.

I heard the First Minister tell us that the motion is nothing to do with independence—however, in the days since the result last week, it has felt to many people across Scotland that the SNP is talking about nothing but independence. It has done so again today.

The First Minister speaks of people in Scotland who are worried and outraged by the EU result. Today, I feel duty bound also to speak up for the many people of Scotland who have contacted me and my colleagues in the past few days to say that they, too, are deeply worried about the prospect of another referendum on independence. That is why we have included in our amendment our opposition to that prospect.

We will not dampen the shock waves caused by one referendum by lighting the fuse for another, nor will we do so by saying that the economic impact of leaving one union means that we should sever ties with a greater union whose value in trade eclipses the former’s many times over.

The arguments in favour of the UK in 2014 were not based just on the economic risks of independence, as convincing as they were. I also believed that we in Britain had more in common than we had that divided us. Does last week’s vote test that notion? Yes, it does, and there is little point in pretending otherwise. It tests it, but it does not break it. It does not break the continuing logic of our sharing power with the United Kingdom and of not splitting from it. It does not break the arguments in favour of our own single market—a market that is more—not less—important to Scotland’s prosperity than the EU. It does not break our shared story, which will, despite the shock waves of the past few days, endure, and the referendum result last week does not overturn the vote that we had a mere 21 months ago to remain part of a united kingdom.

I know many people who are hurt by last week’s result, including some who voted no in 2014—I am one of them. However, the lesson of last week’s referendum is not about a simple “them and us”—not when 1 million of our countrymen voted to leave, too. The lessons are far more profound.

Do we have more in common across the UK than we have that divides us? Yes—we have way too much in common. We can all mention people who feel disempowered and voiceless, who feel anger at how power has been abused in politics, finance and the media, and who feel frustration at lack of access and at barriers to social mobility. We know families among whom there is a growing sense of insecurity and who feel that the world is passing them by. Those are the issues that we must face up to as a country as we reflect on the debate: they affect all of us—no matter which part of the United Kingdom we are from. We should be answering those questions and not repeating the same old arguments of the past.

We can all now agree that referendums are bruising, but they are not just bruising; on matters of such significance, they are wounding, too. I hope that, from now on, we will find time to learn the right lessons—not the wrong ones—and emerge as a stronger society, a better nation and a still united kingdom.

I move amendment S5M-00601.1, to leave out from "welcomes" to end and insert:

“acknowledges that the majority of people in Scotland voted for the UK to remain in the EU; recognises the result of the referendum both in Scotland and across the rest of the UK; affirms to citizens of other EU countries living here that they remain welcome and that their contribution is valued; mandates the Scottish Government to have discussions with the UK Government and other devolved administrations in the UK to explore options for protecting and maximising Scotland’s trade with the EU and securing access to the single market; instructs the Scottish Government to report back regularly to parliamentarians, to the European and External Relations Committee and the Parliament on the progress of those discussions and to seek the Parliament’s approval of the outcome of that process; acknowledges that the result of the Scottish independence referendum must be respected and the 1.6 million votes cast in the EU referendum in favour of remain do not overturn the two million votes in support of Scotland remaining part of the UK less than two years ago and do not in themselves demonstrate demand for a second independence vote, and believes 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."