Sturgeon Urges PM To 'Stop Wasting Time' On Brexit

20 December 2018, 14:16

The First Minister has called on the UK Government to "stop wasting time" and revoke Article 50 to enable Brexit to be halted through a People's Vote.

Nicola Sturgeon said Theresa May appears to have "given up" attempts to make a case for her "bad deal" on Brexit and warned that it would not pass through the Commons.

Speaking at First Minister's Questions, she said: "My position and view is very clear and I made this view clear to the Prime Minister yesterday in London.

"The Government should at this stage request an extension of Article 50, now an extension would have to be agreed by the EU27, but it should do that to allow time for a second EU referendum and if the result of that referendum, as I hope it would be, is remain - not just in Scotland but across the UK - then Article 50 can be revoked.

"We know from the recent ECJ court judgment that it is possible for the UK to retain membership on current terms, contrary to the false choice that's been offered by the Prime Minster.

"She seems to me to have given up trying to make any positive case for her bad deal and instead, extraordinarily for a government leader, is threatening to impose the disaster of a no-deal outcome on people she is supposed to serve.

"I would call on the UK Government to start acting in the interests of the people it serves, ask for that extension, allow people to look at this again and, if people change their minds, to revoke Article 50 and end this sorry mess once and for all."

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie exclaimed "hallelujah" at the SNP supporting a People's Vote on the Brexit deal, and asked how the Labour leadership could be convinced to support it too.

"The Prime Minister is indulging in a form of psychological no-deal warfare in a desperate gamble to revive her dead deal," he said.

Commenting on a People's Vote, Ms Sturgeon replied: "I think momentum is building."