THE long-serving SNP MPs Pete Wishart and Angus McNeil last night made the rare move of rebelling against the party whip and abstained on the motion to back a confirmatory referendum.
Both politicians – who back staying in the EU – had previously expressed concern about the potential impact a second EU vote could have on a Yes result in new independence referendum.
They fear it could set a precedent for a confirmatory vote on any future deal agreed between an independent Scotland and the UK.
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon has said SNP MPs would support a “soft Brexit” if it was not possible to stop the UK’s exit from the European
Union. The First Minister made clear her party’s position as she responded to suggestions the SNP were not ready to engage in the process of compromise behind yesterday’s “indicative votes”.
Debate on the issue took place after Glasgow MP Carol Monaghan tweeted her ballot paper which showed she voted in favour of the option to revoke Article 50, to end Brexit, and also in favour of a confirmatory or second EU referendum.
It also showed she voted against a no-deal Brexit, but abstained on the option to remain in the single market and customs union – a plan first put forward by the Scottish Government in December 2016 and reiterated since then.
One journalist wrote: “It seems Sturgeon is not interested in compromise after all. She would prefer a crisis.”
Responding to the remark, the FM tweeted: “The first preference of @theSNP has always been to stop Brexit. If that’s not possible – and until relatively recently it seemed it wasn’t – we’d opt for soft Brexit over hard. But stopping Brexit is possible now and we voted tonight to give that the best chance.”
There were two motions proposing a softer Brexit voted on last night. Motion D – common market 2.0 was moved by Tory MP Nick Boles and would seek to amend the political declaration to seek membership of the Efta’s EEA pillar and a customs arrangement with the EU.
Motion H – Efta and EEA was moved by Tory MP George Eustice. It seeks membership of the EEA’s Efta pillar but wouldn’t join a UK-wide customs union, leaving the UK to seek its own trade deals after Brexit. It got less support than the Bole’s motion.
After no option gained a majority Brexiteer Mark Francois said: “The attempt to seize the order paper has failed.”
But Anna Soubry, of the Independent group, said: “This is a two-stage process – today was to see where the biggest support may be. A customs union got 264 votes and the biggest of all was a People’s Vote,” adding that both received more votes than the PM’s deal. “We go forward to Monday to find a compromise.
“It is obvious the Prime Minister’s deal needs to go back to the people.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel