menu
menu
Responding to the parliamentary vote on the Brexit Bill, Bristol’s Green MEP, Molly Scott Cato, who is also the Green Party speaker on EU relations, said:
“I am delighted that 114 MPs voted against triggering Article 50 tonight. With Labour, Lib Dem, SNP, and Plaid Cymru MPs joining Green MP Caroline Lucas to reject the Bill, we have seen a progressive alliance against the government’s plans for an extreme Brexit.
“However, while the government is moving us towards the hard Brexit cliff edge, it is Labour that seems willing to push us off. The Party has shown itself hopelessly divided and the failure to oppose the government on this the most critical of issues has played straight into the hands of the Tory Right.
“Greens have been clear throughout: we cannot support triggering a process that will see the UK leave the single market and customs union and threaten to turn us into Europe’s biggest tax haven. We need clear guarantees on worker and consumer rights and are pushing for an amendment to ensure there is no weakening of environmental protections [1].
“We are also clear on the need for a ‘ratification referendum’ so that the final deal agreed between the EU and the UK can be put to the people. This is something that Labour still refuses to support.”
Notes
[1] https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2016-2017/0132/amend/european_rm_cwh_0131.pdf page 73, amendment 41.