Greens Welcome Referendum Call
Patrick Harvie MSP, Co-convener of the Scottish Greens, today (13 March) welcomed confirmation from the First Minister that she is seeking a Section 30 Order from the UK Government to give the Scottish Parliament temporary power to call a referendum on independence.
Patrick, who sits on Holyrood's Finance & Constitution Committee, said:
"The Greens welcome the Scottish Parliament’s consent being sought for a Section 30 order on an independence referendum and we will support it. Scotland's votes and our voice have been ignored by a Tory government at Westminster which we did not vote for and a feeble Labour opposition. The people of Scotland deserve a choice between Hard Brexit Britain and putting our own future in our own hands.
"Theresa May's isolationist Brexit will cause huge damage to Scotland's economy and public services, to our health service, schools and universities. It will isolate us from the world. Those who care about fairness in society are horrified by the kind of Brexit Britain tax-haven the Tories are planning. The Greens will campaign for a progressive, internationalist, independent Scotland.”
Scottish Greens co-convenor Maggie Chapman said:
"The combination of the Brexit vote and Theresa May's belligerent stance against Scotland make an independence referendum inevitable. It is clear that case for the Union from 2014 was a false prospectus - we are very clearly not better together. The UK is not OK.
“When the Westminster Government threaten to use Brexit to turn the UK into a tax haven, it shows how the Prime Minister is taking the country in the opposite direction to Scotland. Our vision of an outward-facing, inclusive country is totally at odds with the anti-foreigner approach the UK government is taking."