Scots want People’s Vote on Brexit, poll shows

A new poll shows that most people in Scotland are in favour of a People's Vote on Brexit, with 52 percent wanting to have a say, versus 37 percent against.
Photo Credit: Press Association

By Martin Banks

Martin Banks is a senior reporter at the Parliament Magazine

18 Dec 2018

Responding to the Panelbase/Sunday Times poll, Scottish MEP Catherine Stihler told this website,"This poll makes it clear that the people of Scotland want a final say on Brexit.”

"Leaving the EU will decimate jobs and erode worker and consumer rights, which is why support for a People's Vote is growing day by day across the UK.”

"Reports suggest that even members of Theresa May's own Cabinet now recognise that a People's Vote is the only way to avoid a calamitous no-deal Brexit,” said the Labour MEP for Scotland.


RELATED CONTENT


"It is now imperative that Jeremy Corbyn throws the full support of the Labour Party behind a People's Vote, and he could start by doing so on his visit to Scotland. If we fail to offer a route out of Brexit, voters will never forgive us," she added.

The poll results come as UK Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to deliver a speech on Monday where she is expected to tell the UK House of Commons that holding another referendum on Brexit would “break faith with the British people.”

With deadlock among UK parliamentarians over the Brexit deal agreed between the EU and EU, May is reportedly gearing up for a “hard Brexit.”

On Monday, Downing Street said there would be an announcement “shortly” about how an extra £2bn will be allocated for no-deal Brexit planning.

“Leaving the EU will decimate jobs and erode worker and consumer rights, which is why support for a People's Vote is growing day by day across the UK” Catherine Stihler MEP

The UK cabinet will discuss the issue at its regular meeting today, and Chancellor Philip Hammond has already said that an announcement about how the £2bn will be spent is imminent.

GANG OF FIVE

Theresa May’s warning about “breaking faith with the British people” comes amid UK reports that Cabinet Office Minister, David Lidington, is at the helm of a “gang of five” Cabinet Ministers who are considering supporting a second Brexit referendum, with Lidington understood to have held talks with Labour MPs last week to discuss the possibility.

There are reports that Cabinet Office officials are preparing for a referendum on the basis of a choice between the Government’s current deal and No Deal, while Parliament would be expected to insist on the option of remaining in the EU being included on the ballot paper.

Another group of Cabinet Ministers are reportedly in favour holding a series of “indicative votes” in the House of Commons to break the impasse on the Brexit deal.

Theresa May, meanwhile, has taken aim at former Prime Minister Tony Blair, for seeking “to undermine our negotiations by advocating for a second referendum,” describing his position as “an insult to the office he once held.”

Blair responded by saying that “What is irresponsible…is to try to steamroller MPs into accepting a deal they genuinely think is a bad one with the threat that if they do not fall into line, the Government will have the country crash out without a deal.”

“DEAD IN THE WATER”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, commenting on Theresa May’s statement, said, “The last twenty-four hours have confirmed that Theresa May’s Brexit deal is dead in the water.”

“The Prime Minister has utterly failed in her attempts to deliver any meaningful changes to her botched deal.”

“Rather than ploughing ahead and dangerously running down the clock, the Prime Minister needs to put her deal to a vote next week so that Parliament can take back control,” Corbyn added.

Read the most recent articles written by Martin Banks - New EU regulations on AI seek to ban mass and indiscriminate surveillance