NICOLA Sturgeon has said it was “unforgivable” the UK Government did “no planning” for the prospect of a vote to leave the European Union as MSPs gathered yesterday for the last session of First Minister’s Questions before the summer recess.
Her comments were made after Kezia Dugdale asked if the First Minister would publish legal advice she receives on Europe despite the Government’s convention of not doing so. Sturgeon told the Scottish Labour leader it was important to face the challenges of the times “in a spirit of openness” – and challenged David Cameron and his ministers.
“When I heard the Prime Minister and other ministers during the referendum campaign say there was no contingency planning I assumed that was just something they were saying for the campaign – it now turns out it was right. They did no planning and that frankly is unforgivable,” she said.
Later in the session, Sturgeon continued: “The Conservatives should feel deeply ashamed of themselves right now and a bit more humility, I think, would have been in order from their benches.”
The exchanges came a day after the First Minister had been in Brussels for urgent talks with European political leaders, making the case to them that Scotland had voted to stay in.
During FMQs, she repeated comments made that she would consider asking Holyrood to oppose giving legislative consent to Brexit.
She said: “I could not personally, and as First Minister, contemplate giving legislative consent to legislation that takes this country out of Europe against the express will of the Scottish people.”
Amid the ongoing constitutional turbulence, she stressed yesterday her “first principle” in EU talks will be to “seek to give effect to the democratic will of the Scottish people that was expressed in the referendum last week”.
Green co-convener Patrick Harvie criticised the “chief fraudsters” of the Leave campaign, singling out “the irresponsibility of Mr [Boris] Johnson, one of the central architects of a deceitful Leave campaign for his abdication of responsibility for the mess he helped create”.
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He urged Sturgeon to back his call for the UK Government to introduce urgent emergency legislation to give all EU citizens already in the country indefinite leave to remain.
Sturgeon said she “100 per cent agreed” that the UK Government, and Tory leadership candidates, should make clear to EU citizens that they have the right to remain.
She said: “There are many many things about this referendum and the outcome of this referendum that I am really angry and upset about, but above all of the other things this idea that somehow we’re not the open and inclusive and welcoming country that I know we are, and this parliament has a duty to stand up and get that message out there loudly and clearly.
“Scotland is open, inclusive and welcoming and no Tory government behaving in their own party interests should ever be allowed to destroy that.”
During the exchanges, Ruth Davidson called on the First Minister to follow the lead of London mayor Sadiq Khan and make the need to the UK to have continued access to the single market a “cornerstone of negotiations” with the EU.
The Scottish Conservative leader said the EU was “very important” but added: “It is not as important as our own UK single market”, saying while Scottish exports to the EU total about £11.6 billion, this is roughly a quarter of exports to the rest of the UK, which raise £48.5bn.
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