ALEX Salmond has accused “bumbling” Boris Johnson of “clowning around” with the jobs and livelihoods of millions.
The former First Minister made the outburst after the two men clashed during question time in the Commons.
Salmond had pressed Johnson on allowing MPs a vote on Brexit, pointing to an article written by the Foreign Secretary calling for “full participation” in the single marketplace.
“If it was okay for the leader of the Brexiteers to argue for full participation in the single marketplace after the referendum, why is it not okay for people on this side of the House to try to force that issue to a vote in the House of Commons?” Salmond asked.
Johnson replied saying it would be “completely unrealistic to expect the Government to put their negotiating position to a vote in this House before those negotiations are concluded.”
The Tory Brexiteer was also pushed by Dundee SNP MP Chris Law on the news that the Government were considering spending billions to keep the capital’s financial district, the City of London in the single market.
“What is the timetable for the same support to be applied to Scotland, where 62 per cent of us voted to remain?” Law asked.
The Tory replied to say the people of Scotland had “voted convincingly to remain in the United Kingdom” in 2014. “This was a United Kingdom decision. We will continue the negotiations as a United Kingdom, and we will get a fantastic deal for this country and a strong deal for the EU.”
Speaking afterwards, Salmond, the SNP’s spokesman on Foreign Affairs said: “It is important for the House and for the public to know which of the masks the two-faced Foreign Secretary puts on when he meets with his EU counterparts. Bumbling Boris has displayed extraordinary levels of confusion and contradiction over the UK’s access to the Single Market.
“However the joke is no longer just about Boris. His political gymnastics are now clowning around with the jobs and livelihoods of millions of people.”
Over at the High Court the hearings in the first legal challenge to Brexit came to an end. The judges are looking at whether or not Theresa May can trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval.
The Government’s lawyer says that if the challenge succeeds, the Government “could not give effect to the will and decision of the people, as clearly expressed in the referendum, to withdraw from the EU without further primary legislation”.
Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales reserved their decision on Tuesday at the end of a three-day hearing, saying they will “take time to consider the matter and give our judgment as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Ministers are holding meetings with European politicians in Brussels today.
External affairs secretary Fiona Hyslop and Scottish Government Brexit Minister Michael Russell are meeting MEPs and diplomats, as well as Scots working and living in Brussels, stakeholders from member states and further afield, representatives from the EU institutions, and Brussels-based media.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Russell said: “A key objective from these talks will be to work with others across the political divide to avert a hard Brexit for Scotland – there is simply no UK mandate for that. I will also raise the First Minister’s commitment to publish proposals that would allow Scotland to stay in the single market and to preserve aspects of our relationship with the EU even if the rest of the UK is intending to leave.”
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