MEP urges colleagues to take more time on Brexit
Alyn Smith is President of the EFA Group in the European Parliament
Scottish MEP Alyn Smith has urged colleagues not to rush through ratification of any Brexit deal with undue haste.
Mr Smith was speaking in the European Parliament's debate on the outcomes of last Thursday and Friday's European Council which agreed a withdrawal agreement between the UK Government and the EU.
The European Parliament will have the final say on any Brexit deal.
The debate was held in Strasbourg in the presence of European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
The SNP MEP and President of the EFA Group in the European Parliament said that such a major agreement with such huge consequences for citizens in the UK and the rest of Europe should be analysed in depth and not rushed through.
Speaking in the European Parliament, Alyn Smith MEP said:
"The UK is in chaos right now, Mr Johnson's government hangs by a thread, its word cannot be trusted even if there was good faith and an intent to implement it.
"But the UK is not Westminster. I would refer you to a joint letter from the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales. The Scottish and Welsh parliaments must also consent to this. We have not consented to this.
"Let's be realistic colleagues – there is no possible way that Westminster can complete proper ratification of this deal this week.
"We should not lend the credibility of this parliament or the Council to collude in that shabby deception.
"The only answer is more time.
"An extension has been requested, albeit through gritted teeth - by a Prime Minister who's desperate to pretend he hasn't – but an extension has been requested.
"Grant it. Grant it now, grant it for a year or longer.
"Mr Johnson and his fellow travellers may have wasted the time but we have not. We are trying to find solutions and we need more time to do that."
