By SNP MEP Alyn Smith
So, another breathless series of votes in the House of Commons and yet more questions than answers. As ever my regular health warning, keep the heid and remember the big picture. Nothing has changed for 18 months, amid the sound and fury the choices remain: leave on agreed terms, leave without terms, or revoke. I find the idea that anyone could countenance leaving without any idea of what comes next (and Johnson’s package, like May’s, tells us precisely nothing about the future) the height of recklessness.
I want to see us revoke, because Scotland voted to Remain. It is open the House of Commons to vote to instruct the Government to revoke (albeit I don’t see the numbers for that presently) or it is open to a second EU referendum on the terms of the deal versus Remain. I also want to see a UK election because Westminster is broken. All things are possible. So I’m glad MPs voted yesterday not to approve Johnson’s “deal” because it was a false choice. He offers only an exit, very likely delivering nothing but a hard Brexit in 18 months for which there is a very sketchy mandate in England and absolutely none in Scotland.
The Westminster hurly-burly was a grim spectacle. Having lost the debate and vote on the Letwin amendment Johnson pulled the vote that was the entire point of yesterday’s meeting and announced he did not intend to ask for an extension as the law demands he should. Then, adding to the arrogance, he called for the Commons to vote again for the deal on Monday and left the chamber.
READ MORE: Johnson refuses to sign Brexit extension request to EU
So where now? There is a real chance that the Scottish Courts will have to intervene and force the Government to ask for the extension everybody knows is necessary. On top of this there may or may not be a further debate and vote on the deal itself early next week in some form though it remains to be seen if the Speaker will collude in the madness.
But will the EU grant an extension? Yes. In Brussels things are more predictable, not least because the EU position is already itself a granular agreement across 27 member states. Tomorrow I’m on the 0800 flight to Strasbourg for the final voting session of the European Parliament before October 31. We are the ultimate legal authority in all this, and we will not approve any Withdrawal Agreement until Westminster has signed it off first. This means that barring the remarkable we now face either a no deal or an extension.
The EU27 still want this deal to pass. They regret Brexit, but they’re past the grieving stage and want the process to be as orderly as possible. So there will continue to be noise about opposing an extension and the unpredictability of events means that they will try to apply any pressure possible to get MPs to agree to the deal but the truth is simple. They will give an extension if the UK asks as they will not throw Ireland under the bus.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel