Nicola Sturgeon has suggested she has a veto over when Britain leaves the European Union. Scotland’s First Minister suggested that she can dictate the timing of a British exit from the EU in an interview on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday (17 July). Asked if she had a “veto in her back pocket” about when Britain leaves the EU, she replied: “I think we are in a very strong position. That is a position that I am going to use as well as I can.”
Speaking in Edinburgh, Mrs May had said: "I have already said that I won't be triggering Article 50 until I think that we have a UK approach and objectives for negotiations."
What on earth would make Nicola think that seeking to agree "a UK approach" to Brexit gave her a veto? I expect she was being offered a chance to make an input into what the Brexit negotiations should try to achieve. But Theresa, preoccupied with the Trident vote presumably, hasn't responded. I expect she would gladly nuke Ms Sturgeon. But she's got bigger fish to fry (ouch, sorry about that lame pun!) with her tour of European capitals.
No doubt it will become clear in due course if Nicola does indeed have a veto!
from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/17/nicola-sturgeon-accepts-she-has-a-veto-over-brexit-timing-in-com/
Do you think that May may well realise that untangling the UK from the EU will be the devil of all jobs and that she is already adopting an unofficial position of allowing too many obstacles to be found to make it possible?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that May genuinely offered Sturgeon and co an input into what should be negotiated. A poisoned chalice offer the SNP can't really engage with as they oppose Brexit. So Sturgeon has tried to claim a veto that wasn't offered to get out of doing something she wouldn't want to do, knowing that eventually there will be a disagreement and slanging match either way. So I think they were both playing games, one of them rather more publicly. Not very edifying if that's the case!
DeleteMy guess is that May genuinely offered Sturgeon and co an input into what should be negotiated. A poisoned chalice offer the SNP can't really engage with as they oppose Brexit. So Sturgeon has tried to claim a veto that wasn't offered to get out of doing something she wouldn't want to do, knowing that eventually there will be a disagreement and slanging match either way. So I think they were both playing games, one of them rather more publicly. Not very edifying if that's the case!
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