Senior Scottish MP calls UK PM a ‘liar’ over Brexit statement
The controversy over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has reached new and unprecedented levels in the British parliament where Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a tough challenge of selling her Brexit deal to the lawmakers.
Leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons Ian Blackford on Tuesday launched an unprecedented attack on May over her Brexit statements to the chamber, accusing the premier of being a ‘liar’.
That came after May responded to a question by Blackford as to why she had not submitted a thorough economic analysis of Brexit to the lawmakers. May said her government had done so only to Blackford’s shout of “that’s not true”.
Blackford, a fierce opponent of Brexit who also advocates for Scotland’s independence from the UK, then upgraded his harsh words toward May and called her a liar.
The designation sparked a massive uproar among Conservative lawmakers sitting behind May, prompting Commons Speaker John Bercow to intervene and urge Blackford to withdraw his words. However, Blackford accepted the request “as a courtesy” to the speaker and not as an apology to May.
Blackford said during his comments before May that Scotland will do its best to shape its own future after Brexit as an “independent EU” nation. He reiterated previous statements that the Scottish people who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum had the right to separate from London and join the EU as an independent country.
The verbal clashes came after May updated lawmakers about her progress on talks with the EU to improve a draft deal for Brexit. The Commons had rejected the agreement by a large majority last month, forcing May to seek new concessions from the EU.
During the Tuesday session, opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked May for bringing nothing new to the Commons that could make her Brexit deal acceptable to the MPs. Corbyn also accused May of running down the clock by trying to delay a final parliamentary vote on her improved Brexit deal until early March.
Britain is expected to leave the EU on March 29. Many believe the exit would be disorderly and costly given the huge opposition existing in the parliament against May’s Brexit deal.
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