Tories Must Respect Holyrood’s Decision

SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon Macdonald, has said that the will of Scotland’s parliament must be respected by the UK government – after MSPs backed the Scottish Government’s plans to hold a referendum on independence after the terms of Brexit have become clear.

Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU last June, with 74.4% of voters in Edinburgh voting to Remain. Yesterday, the Scottish Parliament pledged its support to giving the people of Scotland the right to choose between either a damaging Tory hard Brexit or Scottish independence.

Commenting, SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald said, “The Scottish Parliament has voted in favour of holding an independence referendum, once the terms of Brexit are clear, to give people in Scotland a choice over their future. It is would be undemocratic, indefensible and completely unsustainable for the Tory government at Westminster to ignore the will of the Parliament and block a referendum.

“The Scottish Government has a cast-iron democratic mandate to bring forward a referendum on independence. The First Minister has set out a clear, fair timescale for a future vote – and it is up to the UK government to engage with the Scottish Government over this timing.

“The lack of respect afforded by the UK government to the Scottish Government’s compromise proposals sets a worrying precedent – and triggering Article 50 before securing the promised a UK-wide agreement proves that the Tory government has no interest in working with the other administrations across the UK.”