ALYN Smith has received a standing ovation in Brussels after he delivered a barnstorming speech calling on Europe “not to let Scotland down”.
Smith – a columnist for The National who became Scotland’s youngest MEP when he was elected in 2004 at the age of 30 – told fellow politicians that he was “proudly Scottish and proudly European” as he attended an emergency meeting of the European Parliament to discuss Brexit.
“I want my country to be internationalist, cooperative, ecological, fair, European,” added the SNP politician.
“And the people of Scotland, along with the people of Northern Ireland, and the people of London and lots and lots of people in Wales and England also, voted to remain within our family of nations.?“I demand that that status and that esprit européen be respected.
“Colleagues, there is a lot of things to be negotiated. We will need cool heads and warm hearts.
“But please, remember this: Scotland did not let you down. Please, I beg you, chers collègues, do not let Scotland down now.”
Speaking to The National afterwards he said he and his fellow SNP MEP Ian Hudghton would continue to do their utmost to seek the support of MEPs.
And he compared he and his colleague to the Night’s Watch in the television hit series Game of Thrones, whose job it is to protect a fictional realm while stationed on a remote wall.
“Ian Hudgton and I have been the men of the Night’s Watch for some years now, guarding the wall and nobody really cared. But now we have a lot of friends both in and outside the parliament and the response to my speech today really proves it,” he said.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, yesterday said he would not meet Nicola Sturgeon when she arrived in Brussels today for talks with Martin Schultz, the president of the European Parliament.
His chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas told journalists on Monday that Juncker had a “open door” policy on meeting the First Minister, though no date was mentioned.
Yesterday, Kristalina Georgieva, vice-president of the European Commission, explained that addressing the current turmoil caused by the Brexit vote was Juncker’s immediate priority.
“At this moment of time we are in the turmoil of one decision, the decision taken by the complete UK to leave the European Union and it is so very dramatic that it deserves attention for all of us to concentrate on how we are going to go about it, how we are going to calm the markets, how we are going to calm the emotions of people.”
Pressed on the Remain vote in Scotland, she added: “We value everybody in the UK who has voted to remain in the European Union, because we believe the UK is better off if in the European Union and we are certainly better off with the UK.”
Asked if an independent Scotland could remain in the EU without having to go through the whole process of reapplying, she said: “This is a question which would require very, very careful consideration and I would not hypothetically answer it. We have to look into what the political dynamics of the UK evolve to be and make the calmest possible moves we can.”
The European Commission has already set up a negotiating team headed by senior civil servant and Portuguese national Didier Seeuws to lead the talks with the UK Government – which has yet to establish its team.
No UK team will be announced until David Cameron is succeeded by a new Conservative leader.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it is “important that we still view Britain as a friend and partner”, despite its decision to leave the EU.
But speaking as she arrived at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels yesterday, she insisted “there will be no informal or formal talks before Britain has used Article 50” of the EU treaty, which will formally start the process of negotiating its withdrawal from the bloc.
She earlier said that although Britain will want to maintain “close relations’’ with the EU once it leaves, it cannot expect a business-as-usual approach.
“Whoever wants to leave this family cannot expect to have no more obligations but to keep privileges,” she said, and added: ‘’We will ensure that the negotiations are not carried out with the principle of cherry picking.”
French President Francois Hollande has urged Britain to start exit talks “as fast as possible” as he warned the rest of the union has “no time to lose” to plan its future without the British.
He acknowledged it is a historic moment, but he insisted “history continues” and said “Europe doesn’t stop” with Brexit.
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