THERESA May was accused of scurrying away from the House of Commons chamber yesterday after she claimed the SNP had “no mandate from the Scottish people to continue to pursue independence”.
The Tory leader’s comments came in response to Aberdeen North MP Kirsty Blackman during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The SNP’s depute leader at Westminster told May that in January, “83% of Scottish MPs voted against the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal” and that on Tuesday “a historic vote took place in the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament,” with both also rejecting the agreement.
“Isn’t it the case that the Prime Minister had no mandate from Scotland for no deal or her deal?” Blackman asked.
May told the MP: “We entered the European Union as the United Kingdom, we will leave the European Union as the United Kingdom, and I also say to the honourable lady that the SNP have no mandate from the Scottish people to continue to pursue independence.”
That infuriated MPs on the SNP benches. After the session, Westminster leader Ian Blackford stood up to raise a point of order, urging action to be taken against May. As he got to his feet, the Prime Minister left the chamber.
“I have to say it’s disappointing that the Prime Minister, who has been alerted that I will be asking a point of order, has chosen to scurry from the chamber,” he said.
“Mr Speaker, you will agree that the use of language and the images in what we say in this chamber is important. The Prime Minister said in response to my honourable friend from Aberdeen that the Scottish National Party does not have a mandate for independence.
“Mr Speaker, let me say quite unequivocally that is simply not the case. The Scottish National Party stood on a manifesto commitment to an independence referendum if there was a material change of circumstances.”
The SNP had, Blackford pointed out, won the election in Scotland.
To heckles and cries of “boring” from the Tory benches, he added: “Perhaps more importantly, we took a motion to the Scottish Parliament, because there is emphatically a majority for independence in that parliament”.
May, he added, should come back to the chamber and “correct the record”. However, Speaker John Bercow said there had been “no procedural impropriety” and “nothing untoward in parliamentary terms about the way in which the Prime Minister has conducted herself”. The clash was, Bercow continued, “in the nature of political debate and disagreement”.
Earlier during the session, May was criticised by Blackford for her “heartless” policy of making EU citizens living in the UK register for settled status. The MP raised the case of 87-year-old Tove MacDonald.
She lives in Glasgow but was brought up in Denmark under Nazi occupation before moving to the UK 59 years ago.
“Why is the Prime Minister making Tove register after almost 60 years? Will she end this heartless policy?” Blackford asked.
May responded: “We want to ensure EU citizens who are living here have their rights protected. We want to be able to ensure they have the support that they need and, indeed, the recognition of their status here in the United Kingdom.”
May told Blackford that if he was interested in “defending and protecting the rights of EU citizens” then he should vote for her deal.
Blackford called the Prime Minister’s answer a “disgrace”.
He said: “A woman who has lived here for almost 60 years, and the Prime Minister wants her to register to stay here.
“Tove has children. She has grandchildren. She has married in Scotland. She has friends here. She has built her life here. Why is the Prime Minister making Tove register after almost 60 years?
“Will she end this heartless policy? Will she tell Tove and all EU citizens who have come to the UK to work, live and love that the UK is their home, without precondition?
The Prime Minister claimed the government had “consistently said to EU citizens who have been living here for many years” that they “recognise the contribution they have made to our society and our economy, and we want them to stay”.
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