Ross MP welcomes Brexit extension amid fresh moves for general election; SNP leader Ian Blackford slams PM's election plan as 'simply not acceptable'
A ROSS-SHIRE MP has welcomed the latest Brexit extension as an opportunity to "unlock what has become a deadlocked parliament" by giving people a say in an election.
Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP Ian Blackford made his remarks after EU President Donald Tusk’s agreement to allow an extension to the Brexit deadline.
That means the UK will not leave Europe on Thursday.
EU leaders have agreed in principle to extend Brexit until January 31, 2020 so that opposition parties can work to secure an early general election to end the impasse.
The move follows a joint approach to the European Council by Ian Blackford, who is also Westminster leader of the SNP, and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson who wrote to Mr Tusk urging the EU to back an extension.
They said this would give opposition parties the opportunity to “unlock what has become a deadlocked parliament” by giving people a say in an election.
Mr Blackford said: “There is a responsibility on all of us to make sure we use this time to get out of the Brexit mess we are in and to get out of the impasse everybody is fed up of being in.”
SNP and Lib Dem MPs have refused to support Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s motion to hold an election on December 12 while the threat of a no-deal Brexit remains on the table.
Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (FTPA), he would require a two-thirds majority – the backing of 434 MPs – to hold a pre-Christmas election.
Instead, the Lib Dems and the SNP have proposed a one-line Bill to bypass the FTPA, which would grant an election on December 9. If passed - by a majority of just one-third of MPs - the Bill would "set the election date in stone" and rule out any chance of the PM altering the date after MPs had voted.
Mr Blackford said: “Boris Johnson’s proposal of an election - but only after he tries to pass his deeply damaging Brexit Bill through Parliament to take the UK out of the EU - is simply not acceptable to us.
“Opposition parties will not be bullied by a Prime Minister who has shown utter contempt for Parliament and who has attempted to railroad through his damaging deal without a shred of scrutiny or due process. On top of that, he is now asking Parliament to back an election without knowing the terms of an extension to the Article 50 process. For these reasons we will not support Boris Johnson’s election motion.
“However, a general election is now the best way to end the current Brexit impasse and that is why the SNP, along with the Liberal Democrats, wrote to Donald Tusk seeking an extension to at least 31st January 2020 so that we can remove the risk of a devastating no-deal Brexit. This is the only way to unlock what has become a deadlocked parliament and for the UK and the EU to move forward.”
