Scottish Parliament to debate revoking Article 50

MSPs will debate cancelling Brexit today after the Scottish Greens lodged a motion in response to the revoke Article 50 petition.

The online petition to Revoke Article 50 has gained almost six million signatures since Theresa May gave a speech attacking MPs for not backing the deal she negotiated with European leaders.

The UK can unilaterally withdraw its request to leave the European Union after a court case brought by six Scottish politicians from the SNP, Labour and Scottish Green parties.

The motion before MSPs calls for Article 50 to be revoked if it is not possible to have another referendum.

The result of the vote will not be legally binding.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Scottish Green co-convener Patrick Harvie said: “The Scottish Parliament has repeatedly sought compromise in order to mitigate this impending disaster, yet the Prime Minister has failed to listen at every stage. She finds herself desperately scraping around for the support of the ERG fanatics and the reprehensible DUP.

“Many people across the UK are now waking up to the crisis before us, with over one million marching in London at the weekend and many millions more making their views known by signing the petition to revoke Article 50. It’s clear that people are not going to allow the Tories to drag us into a hellish hard right Brexit.”

The Scottish Conservatives called the motion "self-indulgent posturing from the Greens".

Meanwhile, the SNP at Westminster has tabled an indicative motion which requires the Scottish parliament’s consent before leaving the EU.

The speaker will consider the motion as one of the options to be part of the indicative votes for MPs later.

The party’s Commons leader Ian Blackford said: "As is now clear beyond doubt, there is no such thing as a good Brexit. Leaving the EU with either Theresa May's bad deal, or with no deal, would be devastating for jobs, living standards, public services and the economy.

“Parliament must now put the decision back to the people in a fresh referendum to Remain in the EU, or revoke Article 50, to prevent a Brexit disaster.”

A spokesperson for the UK Government said: “This Government will not revoke Article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with Parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.”