THE Scottish Greens have hit back at the Tories after Ruth Davidson’s party accused Patrick Harvie and colleagues of using parliamentary time to “whine about Brexit”.
The row came ahead of this afternoon’s debate in the Scottish Parliament with MSPs set to vote on revoking Article 50 – the mechanism for exiting the EU.
The motion, in Harvie’s name, calls on the Tory Government to end negotiations and effectively cancel the UK’s exit from Europe, unless they can secure a “sufficient extension to the Brexit process to organise and conduct a People’s Vote with an option to remain in the EU”.
Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer were prominent members of the “Scottish Six”, who won a case against the UK Government last year when judges backed their claim that the UK can unilaterally stop the Article 50 process.
READ MORE: The story of how six Scottish politicians took on the UK and the EU
The European Court of Justice ruled that Westminster can stop Brexit without asking Brussels for permission without a penalty or the loss of current membership status.
The campaign to revoke Article 50 has gone viral over the last week, with a petition on the UK Parliament’s website approaching a staggering six million signatures.
Harvie said: “The people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union. The Scottish Parliament has repeatedly sought compromise in order to mitigate this impending disaster, yet the Prime Minister has failed to listen at every stage. She finds herself desperately scraping around for the support of the ERG fanatics and the reprehensible DUP.
“Many people across the UK are now waking up to the crisis before us, with over one million marching in London at the weekend and many millions more making their views known by signing the petition to revoke Article 50. It’s clear that people are not going to allow the Tories to drag us into a hellish hard-right Brexit.
“The UK Government is in shambles. The Prime Minister must seek a longer extension in order to put the question back to the people. If she is unwilling to countenance this, the only option remaining is to revoke Article 50 unilaterally.”
READ MORE: Patrick Harvie: It’s past time for the FM to deliver an indyref update
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories said the Greens were wasting Holyrood’s time: “This is typical, self-indulgent posturing from the Greens.
“They could be raising any number of important matters within the competence of the Scottish Parliament.
“Instead, they’re using their time to whine about Brexit for an afternoon.”
A spokesman for the Greens hit back: “Brexit, the biggest political crisis of our lifetime, was brought about entirely due to infighting in the Tory party. I’m not surprised they don’t want to talk about it.”
SNP MSP Tom Arthur said his party would support the motion: “Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU and it is a democratic disgrace we face being dragged out against our will.
“Brexit highlights the need for Scotland to be independent. But, regardless of our constitutional settlement, it’s in Scotland’s interests to stop Theresa May’s Brexit in its tracks.”
A Scottish LibDem spokesperson said they too would back the Greens.
“Liberal Democrats will not allow the UK to crash out of the EU. If that possibility comes close to becoming reality, we will argue for Brexit to be cancelled, by revoking Article 50.
“Ultimately, however, what started with democracy should end with democracy. That is why the Liberal Democrats have led the campaign to give the people the final say on Brexit”.
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