First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today outlined the steps the Scottish Government will take to progress the debate on Scotland’s future in light of Brexit, and the action to be taken to protect the option for an independence referendum to be held within the current term of the Scottish Parliament. Continue reading Brexit highlights cracks in broken Britain
UK Government immigration proposals threaten family reunification
Scots who currently live in another EU country, but who hope to come back to live in Scotland one day, will find it much harder to bring family members with them when they return, if and when the UK leaves the EU.
That is the prospect facing thousands of Scots as a consequence of the UK Government’s proposals for UK citizens in the EU post Brexit, Scottish Government Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development Ben Macpherson said today.
Mr Macpherson said that UK citizens living in the EU deserved guarantees from the UK Government about their rights to return home with family members if and when the UK leaves the EU.
“The ‘Stay in Scotland’ campaign launched by the First Minister earlier this month made clear how much the Scottish Government values the contributions made by EU citizens living and working in Scotland,” he said.
“Of course the negative consequences of the UK Government’s planned exit from the EU also extend to the rights of UK citizens living in other member states, and I am particularly concerned about the implications for those who hope to return to Scotland with their families in the future.
“Under UK Government proposals, due to come into effect in 2022, someone with a non-UK national spouse and children will no longer be allowed to return to Scotland with his or her family unless strict financial thresholds are met. This is unfair.
“I do not accept that someone’s ability to return to Scotland should be judged through arbitrary financial requirements, that do not take into account individual and often compassionate circumstances. The UK Government must seriously reconsider their proposals.
“Scots who want to return to Scotland from elsewhere in the EU should be able to bring their families with them, no matter how much they earn.”
The UK Government must use the extension granted this week by the EU to broaden its discussions on Brexit, Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell has said. Continue reading Article 50 extension: Drop your red lines, Russell urges Prime Minister
Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement on the Brexit process extention:
“I have just met with Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, where I agreed an extension to the Brexit process to the end of October at the latest.
I continue to believe we need to leave the EU, with a deal, as soon as possible.
And vitally, the EU have agreed that the extension can be terminated when the Withdrawal Agreement has been ratified — which was my key request of my fellow leaders.
For example, this means that, if we are able to pass a deal in the first three weeks of May, we will not have to take part in European Elections and will officially leave the EU on Saturday, 1st June.
During the course of the extension, the European Council is clear that the UK will continue to hold full membership rights, as well as its obligations.
As I said in the room tonight, there is only a single tier of EU membership, with no conditionality attached beyond existing treaty obligations.
Let me conclude by saying this.
I know that there is huge frustration from many people that I had to request this extension. The UK should have left the EU by now and I sincerely regret the fact that I have not yet been able to persuade Parliament to approve a deal which would allow the UK to leave in a smooth and orderly way.
But the choices we now face are stark and the timetable is clear.
So we must now press on at pace with our efforts to reach a consensus on a deal that is in the national interest.
Tomorrow I will be making a statement to the House of Commons.
Further talks will also take place between the Government and the Opposition to seek a way forward.
I do not pretend the next few weeks will be easy or that there is a simple way to break the deadlock in Parliament.
But we have a duty as politicians to find a way to fulfil the democratic decision of the Referendum, deliver Brexit and move our country forward.
Nothing is more pressing or more vital.”
Confirmation_of_UK_Government_Agreement_to_Article_50_Extension.April
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has today written to the Prime Minister, following the extension of Article 50 until the end of October. The First Minister said it is essential now that this time is used constructively and not wasted.
Ms Sturgeon has called for ongoing talks over EU exit to include the devolved administrations, and for any deal agreed by the UK Parliament to be put to a second referendum.
Full text of the letter:
Dear Theresa
I am writing to you today following the agreement reached at the European Council last night to extend the Article 50 period to the end of October 2019, with a review in June.
It is welcome that the European Union has acted in this way to give the UK more time. However, it is essential now that this time is used constructively and not wasted.
People in Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU but have been ignored by the UK Government throughout the Brexit process. That must now change.
Notwithstanding the clear remain result in Scotland, the Scottish Government has sought to engage meaningfully on the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU and has called consistently for genuine efforts to reach consensus across party lines and with the devolved administrations. However, it is still not clear that even at this late stage and following the repeated defeat of your proposals that you are willing to drop your red lines which have restricted what can be achieved in the future relationship.
We now have the gift of more time from the EU, and that must be used constructively to re-set the UK Government approach. Your ongoing talks with the Leader of the Opposition should now broaden to include other parties, the devolved administrations, business and civic society, and open up the range of options on the table in an effort to reach a genuine consensus. If such talks are to stand any chance of success you must be prepared to recognise in particular that it is essential for Scotland, at the very least, to stay inside the Single Market and continue to benefit from freedom of movement.
Further, and more fundamentally, the Scottish Government considers that any deal agreed by the UK Parliament should be put to another referendum, with the alternative proposition on the ballot paper being to remain in the EU. The extension to 31 October provides enough time to do this, and it is essential that no time is lost in making the necessary preparations.
I urge you to convene an urgent cross-party and cross-administration discussion to agree how to use the time we have been given.
I am copying this letter to the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.
Prime Minister Theresa May issued the following statement on Brexit negotiations last night:
Delivering Brexit has been my priority ever since I became Prime Minister and it remains so today. I want the UK to leave the EU in an orderly way as soon as possible and that means leaving in a way that does not disrupt people’s lives. Continue reading Theresa May: deal or no deal?
EU citizens living in Scotland are to be supported to remain in Scotland during and beyond the uncertainty associated with an EU exit, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Continue reading First Minister’s plea: stay in Scotland
Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement in Downing Street on Brexit:
I have just come from chairing seven hours of Cabinet meetings focused on finding a route out of the current impasse – one that will deliver the Brexit the British people voted for, and allow us to move on and begin bringing our divided country back together.
I know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with No Deal next week.
I have always been clear that we could make a success of No Deal in the long-term.
But leaving with a deal is the best solution.
So we will need a further extension of Article 50 – one that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal.
And we need to be clear what such an extension is for – to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way.
This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer.
It is putting Members of Parliament and everyone else under immense pressure – and it is doing damage to our politics.
Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer.
So today I am taking action to break the logjam: I am offering to sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and to try to agree a plan – that we would both stick to – to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal.
Any plan would have to agree the current Withdrawal Agreement – it has already been negotiated with the 27 other members, and the EU has repeatedly said that it cannot and will not be reopened.
What we need to focus on is our Future Relationship with the EU.
The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a Future Relationship that delivers on the result of the Referendum, that both the Leader of the Opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next week’s European Council.
However, if we cannot agree on a single unified approach, then we would instead agree a number of options for the Future Relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue.
Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House.
But to make this process work, the Opposition would need to agree to this too.
The Government would then bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. We would want to agree a timetable for this Bill to ensure it is passed before 22nd May so that the United Kingdom need not take part in European Parliamentary Elections.
This is a difficult time for everyone.
Passions are running high on all sides of the argument.
But we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for.
This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands.
And it requires national unity to deliver the national interest.
Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement in Downing Street on Brexit yesterday:
Nearly three years have passed since the public voted to leave the European Union. Continue reading Brexit: PM tells country “I am on your side”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to the Prime Minister about the role of the devolved administrations in talks on the future trade relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Preparing for ‘no deal’ Brexit
