So now we know that the Scottish Parliament won’t get a say, that the Scottish Government’s options paper is likely to be rejected and that a Hard Brexit will cost around eighty thousand jobs and a two thousand pound drop in the average income in Scotland. Patrick Harvie MSP

The Scottish Greens have responded to the Supreme Court ruling that the UK’s devolved bodies will not have a say on whether the Westminster government can start the Brexit process.

Patrick Harvie MSP, the party’s co-convener says the decision confirms that Scotland is not an “equal partner” in the UK and that the decision to give Westminster a vote prior to triggering Article 50 will be of “no consolation” to voters in Scotland.

Glasgow MSP, Patrick Harvie said:

“By recognising that Brexit will alter the powers of the Scottish Parliament but deciding that MSPs will have no say, the Supreme Court has made it clear today that Scotland is not an equal partner in the UK.

“While it’s good that Westminster at least must have a vote before the UK begins the formal process of leaving the European Union, there’s no consolation for people in Scotland, who have come to expect that Westminster never speaks up for Scotland or respects the democratic wishes of the people who live here.

“So now we know that the Scottish Parliament won’t get a say, that the Scottish Government’s options paper is likely to be rejected and that a Hard Brexit will cost around eighty thousand jobs and a two thousand pound drop in the average income in Scotland. It is hard to see any other option than putting the choice back in the hands of voters in Scotland, giving people the choice of an independent future in Europe, and rejecting the angry and isolated Britain the Tories are planning.”