Local MSPs are backing IndyRef2

MSPs Gil Paterson and Rona Mackay say they are backing an independence referendum to '˜protect Scotland from decades of Tory rule' in post-Brexit Britain.
Gil Paterson and Rona Mackay.Gil Paterson and Rona Mackay.
Gil Paterson and Rona Mackay.

The SNP MSPs believe a hard Brexit would have “disastrous” consequences for Scotland’s economy and society.

This follows First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that the Scottish Government is seeking approval from Holyrood on a referendum on Scottish independence.

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Gil Paterson, MSP for Milngavie, said: “No one asked for Scotland to be put in this situation, but now we find ourselves at a major crossroads – do we back an unpredictable hard Brexit or have a shot at creating our own future?

“Scotland must be allowed to make an informed choice on how it will be run, it’s clear the 2014 vote was not an informed choice because so many promises made to us were broken.

“Scotland’s very reasonable compromises offered to Westminster, on Brexit, have been utterly ignored.”

Rona Mackay MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden warned that Brexit will set Scotland on a course that would “change the very nature the society and country we are”.

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She said: “The future of Scotland is now at stake as we face a chaotic departure from the European Union and its single market, under a hardline Tory government in Westminster. We did not ask for this situation; Scotland’s hand has been forced.

“The Scottish Government is being left in the dark about very simple details, like when Article 50 will be triggered.

“Being ripped out of the EU and the single market will be disastrous for Scotland’s economy – locking in lower living standards and costing up to, if not more than, 70,000 Scottish jobs.

“But not just the economy, we are at a turning point where we can embrace a Britain mutating into something unrecognisable under Tory Brexit, or continue to build Scotland as an outward-looking and principled nation.”

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Next week the Scottish Government will seek the approval of the Scottish Parliament to open discussions with the UK government on the details of a section 30 order - the procedure that will enable the Scottish Parliament to legislate for an independence referendum.