NICOLA Sturgeon has insisted Article 50 should be revoked and Brexit scrapped if there is no route out of the current crisis by the end of next week.
The First Minister made the comments as an online petition to revoke Article 50 became the fastest growing in UK Parliament history – attracting around 2,000 signatures every minute.
It smashed the one-million mark yesterday afternoon after less than 15 hours, with the unprecedented support causing the website to crash several times under the pressure.
Ms Sturgeon insisted alternatives to the current stalemate are available.
She told MSPs: “One of those alternatives, undoubtedly, is the revocation of Article 50. And if all else fails by this time next week, that is exactly, in my view, what MPs should do.”
It came as the Scottish politicians behind a landmark legal fight to confirm whether MPs can unilaterally halt Brexit insisted it was fast becoming the only responsible choice.
Europe’s highest court ruled last year that Westminster had the power to order the UK Government to revoke the Article 50 withdrawal notice, without relying on the consent of the other 27 EU nations.
It was the result of a year-long fight by Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, Labour MEPs Catherine Stihler and David Martin, SNP MEP Alyn Smith, SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC, and briefly Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine – and supported by Jolyon Maugham QC of the Good Law Project.
Mr Smith said the legal battle had “opened an exit door for MPs to walk through” to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal.
He said: “Revoking Article 50 is the legally cleanest route out of this. Stop this chaos. This is a national embarrassment.”
Mr Greer said the UK was now “dangerously close to the point where the only options left are crashing out without a deal or MPs voting to revoke Article 50 and ending this crisis”.
He added: “Greens still believe the public should make the final choice and there is absolutely still time for that but the window is closing. In that scenario, when the alternative would result in shortages of medicines and food and millions of lost jobs, the only responsible choice MPs can make is to revoke Article 50. Thankfully, the legal action we took unequivocally gives them that option.”
The Article 50 petition was launched after Mrs May addressed the public on Wednesday and criticised MPs for not approving her Brexit deal.
The Petitions Committee said the rate of signing was “the highest the site has ever had to deal with”, with between 80,000 and 100,000 people viewing it simultaneously.
Ms Stihler, who has now stepped down as an MEP, said the popularity of the petition demonstrated “the strength of opposition to crashing out of the EU”.
She said: “The legal battle to secure a ruling that the UK could unilaterally revoke Article 50 was lengthy, but we persevered with it in case we found ourselves in the position we find ourselves today: caught in a constitutional crisis that threatens livelihoods, communities and our economy.”
She added:“I remain of the view that we should have a People’s Vote on the Prime Minister’s deal and remaining in the EU, but that will take time - and that’s why stopping the Article 50 process to avoid a no-deal scenario is now imperative to buy more time.”
The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens previously issued a joint statement insisting they will call a vote on revoking Article 50 as a last resort, while SNP MP Angus MacNeil yesterday confirmed he is pushing for a Commons vote on the issue.
But Downing Street insisted Mrs May would “not countenance” revoking Article 50 and halting Brexit.
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