With just weeks to go until Brexit, there’s a sense of déjà vu as the UK government descends ever further into chaos.
After suffering the worst defeat in parliamentary history, the Prime Minister continues to be humiliated over their failing Brexit strategy. Far from being “strong and stable”, this is a shambles of a Westminster government that limps on in office but not in power.
It was disappointing, but not surprising, to see the British Labour party abstain in parliament again this week; their leader instructing their MPs to join the Tories in voting down SNP proposals that would have put the brakes on Brexit and prevent a disastrous no-deal exit from the EU.
We all know that the British Labour party is just as divided over Brexit as the Tories. Jeremy Corbyn seems content to sit on his hands as Theresa May runs down the clock. It’s no wonder that Labour’s membership figures in Scotland are dwindling as supporters leave the party in their droves.
Regardless of how you voted in the EU referendum, nobody voted to make themselves poorer. But the UK government’s own analysis shows there’s no such thing as a ‘good Brexit’ – the evidence is overwhelming that it will be harmful to jobs and living standards.
West Dunbartonshire, like the rest of Scotland, voted overwhelmingly to remain. Yet we face being dragged out of the EU against our will by a Tory government we didn’t vote for.
In 2014 Labour joined its Better Together partners the Tories to campaign against Scotland’s independence. They will not be forgiven if they stand side by side with the Tories again to be the midwives of a Brexit that is damaging to Scotland.
The SNP will not stand by and allow this to happen. Scotland’s future must be in Scotland’s hands.
This article appeared in the Dumbarton Reporter on 19 February 2019.
