David Martin has been a Labour MEP since 1984

At a hustings addressed by six candidates standing in the May 23 poll, Labour’s David Martin said he understood the frustration of people who wanted the Brexit chaos to end, but he argued it was a mistake to assume the MEPs elected next week would only be there a short time.

He said he was standing on a platform of “renew, reform and remain”.

He said Labour’s position was to prevent a no-deal Brexit and get the least damaging Brexit possible. “If we achieve that then the vast majority of Labour MPs think we then have to put that deal to a confirmatory referendum. You then get to the position where the choice before the British people is the least damaging Brexit or no Brexit - and that seems to me to be the responsible approach to this debate.”

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But he added: “I don’t think we should treat the European elections as a referendum on the European Union. We are not electing people to go there until October 31, we’re electing people for the next five years and we want to send people to the European Parliament with an agenda for reform.”

The Greens’ number one candidate Maggie Chapman described the May 23 vote as “the most important European elections ever” and said the Greens had three priorities. “We want to make a statement that we want to stop Brexit, we want to take the serious action necessary to tackle climate breakdown and we want to give people hope.”

She argued Scotland’s voice was being ignored. “Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain. Nothing Westminster has done has taken any account of the vote we took part in three years ago.”

The Brexit Party and Ukip were both invited to the hustings, organised by the European Movement, but neither sent a representative.

Tory Iain Whyte noted he was the only candidate present who was not arguing for Remain.

He said: “The UK voted in a free and fair democratic referendum to leave. The threat to democracy and to our country if we don’t respect that referendum is more chaos.”

And he said the SNP must not use the Brexit issue as an excuse for another vote on independence. “This election is a chance to say no to more divisive referendums.”

Peter Griffith, from Change UK, said his party were “the new kids on the block” and were campaigning for a “people’s vote” to give the Brexit decision back to voters.

He said a no-deal Brexit or leaving the EU with a deal were both options, but there was also the opportunity to abandon Brexit.

“Enshrined in our law there is the ability for us to take away the entire Brexit issue by revoking Article 50 and that’s what Change UK is campaigning for.”

Fred Mackintosh, number two on the Lib Dems’ Scottish list, also argued for a “people’s vote” to stop Brexit.

And despite Mr Martin’s comments, he insisted: “This election is about whether we stay in or leave the European Union. That is the issue this country faces and has faced for three years.”

He said the Lib Dems wanted to stop Brexit. “It’s causing division to our country, it’s causing damage to our economy, it’s harming our universities, it’s harming businesses but above all it harms people - the distress and uncertainty and concern it causes to EU nationals in Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK is palpable and it’s a disgrace.”

Alex Kerr, who is sixth on the SNP list, said the vast majority of young people in Scotland had, like the rest of the country, voted to remain. “For us, Europe represents opportunity, it represents freedom and it represent prosperity. The benefits of EU membership for young people are vast - as European citizens we have the right to live, work and study across Europe.”

And he said the Brexit process had made clear Scotland’s interests were no longer served by being part of the UK. “Scotland has been ignored, been sidelined. We have tried time and time again to come to a compromise but unfortunately it has fallen on deaf ears.

“This election give us another chance to send a clear message to Westminster - Scotland’s for Europe and we’re not leaving.”

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