SNP MP Joanna Cherry has told the Sunday National of her experience of being harassed and followed by aggressive pro-Brexit protesters on the streets of London on Friday last week.
“I couldn’t hear myself think during a BBC interview because there were people standing behind me shouting ‘we have ways of making you vote’,” she said.
She left Parliament following the vote which saw the Government defeated for a third time, to attend media commitments on College Green.
Accompanied by a press officer, Cherry faced further abuse.
READ MORE: Brexit: So where does Westminster go from here?
“We couldn’t get across the road for the protesters. When we made it to College Green – two men followed and shouted that I was a ‘traitor’ and that I should ‘go back to my own country,’” she said.
Cherry was then harassed on her journey home to her London flat which left her shaken, with two women calling her a “bitch” and following her.
“Later on, when I was walking across Westminster Bridge two women recognised me. They shouted ‘there’s that bitch’ and walked alongside me, shouting ‘go back to Scotland’. I totally ignored them, and they gave up, but then I got worried that they might follow me home. I was shaking. It was really horrible.”
And the presence of Loyalist flute bands prompted Cherry to raise her concerns during an interview.
“I explained to ITN that it is really horrible for me to see an orange walk. Like many SNP MPs, I am a Catholic and make no mistake, their purpose is to intimidate Catholics,” she said.
READ MORE: SNP hint at move towards backing customs union Brexit option
Cherry will look to table another crucial motion tomorrow.
Ahead of it, she said: "I’m bringing back a reworked version of my motion from last week after further cross-party talks particularly with Labour MPs who did not feel able to back it last time.
"The purpose of my motion is to avoid no deal and allow for revocation as the ultimate backstop. It provides that if the UK cannot agree a deal by April 10, the date of the EU Council, the UK Government must ask first for a extension of the Article 50 period and, if the EU don’t agree, the UK Government must immediately table a motion asking the House of Commons to approve 'no deal' and if the House of Commons does not approve that – which it won’t – the UK Government must revoke Article 50.
"Thereafter it provides for a public inquiry to be established into what the UK wants by way of a future relationship with the EU and provides for a possible future notification under Article 50 but only after a further referendum.
"The motion has been drafted by lawyers and crafted so as to be within the parameters of the decision of the European Court of Justice in the Scottish Six case. It continues to have cross party support and many Labour MPs who did not vote for my previous motion have said they will vote for this one.
"It does not preclude the SNP proceeding to hold a second independence referendum exercising our mandate based on the significant and material change of circumstances which has occurred since 2014.
"I believe SNP MPs should focus our attentions tomorrow on getting as many votes as possible for this motion and for a second EU referendum. We should not be side-tracked by motions which are designed to deliver Brexit and get the Tory Government out of their current predicament. That is not what we at Westminster to do.
"The Clarke motion for a Customs Union alone cannot be supported by the SNP because it does not deliver the single market and freedom of movement. There are also a number of problems with the Boles Common Market 2.0 proposals; firstly it is not clear that it guarantees freedom of movement, secondly, the customs arrangement it proposes is temporary (i.e not a permanent customs union) and third it is dependent on all the EFTA and EU countries agreeing that the UK could join EFTA and the EEA.
"Reliable sources say that Norway, whilst happy to have Scotland, is not happy to have the whole of the UK for reasons that are obvious. Moreover it is not a stable solution. It does not deal with the issues that led people to vote for Brexit and renders the UK a rule taker which will only lead to problems in the future.
"Most worringly the Boles motion is framed in such a way that if the SNP MPs voted for it they would also have to vote for Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement. Accordingly, supporting it is out of the question."
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