Senior Scottish figures in politics, academia and the arts condemn Boris Johnson for 'undermining democracy' in open letter

Senior Scottish figures from across academia, politics and the arts have put their names to an open letter condemning Prime Minister Boris Johnson for "undermining democracy" and calling for an extension to Article 50.

By Lucy Christie Saturday, 28th September 2019, 8:09 pm

Historian Sir Tom Devine is among the senior Scottish figures who have signed the open letter to Boris Johnson.

Former defence secretary Baron Robertson and the historian Professor Sir Tom Devine are joined on the list of 22 signatories by actor Brian Cox, all expressing their concern at what they describe as the political crisis engulfing the country.

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The figures - who also include former chief medical officer for Scotland Sir Harry Burns, Lord Menzies Campbell, and artist Professor Richard Demarco - call for an extension to Article 50, a general election and a people's vote.

"However, we condemn the response of the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, both his failure to apologise for his unlawful prorogation of parliament, let alone resign, and his assertion that the Supreme Court's 11 justices were wrong.

"We also condemn attacks from the government front bench at Westminster on parliament itself.

"Unlawfully suspending parliament is a legal, political and moral error - to accuse the re-opened parliament of moral failure, in the face of the disregard shown for democracy by the Government, cannot go unanswered."

The letter goes on: "Like many others, we are also deeply concerned at the inflammatory and toxic language used by some.

"We call on Mr Johnson urgently to set an example by ending his, and his colleagues', populist and inappropriate rhetoric and to act from now on to defend, not undermine, our democratic institutions."

The signatories said that an extension to Article 50 - if the European Union were to agree to it - would allow time for both a general election and a people's vote "to consider whether, in the face of what we now know about a possible Brexit deal, the UK wants to go ahead with Brexit or not".

"By having both an election and a people's vote we can bring representative democracy and direct democracy together again and begin the long but vital process of rebuilding a functioning democratic politics and ending divisions, anger and the risk of violence," they wrote.

- Professor Sir Harry Burns, Professor of Global Public Health, University of Strathclyde

- The Rt Hon Lord Campbell of Pittenweem

- Brian Cox, actor

- Professor Richard Demarco, artist

- Professor Emeritus Sir Tom Devine, University of Edinburgh

- Dr Richard Dixon, director, Friends of the Earth Scotland

- Vanessa Glynn, former chair, European Movement in Scotland

- David Gow, former European Business Editor, the Guardian

- Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

- Dr Kirsty Hughes, director, Scottish Centre on European Relations

- Lord Kerr of Kinlochard

- Mark Lazarowicz, former Labour MP for Edinburgh North

- Dame Mariot Leslie, former diplomat

- Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, former Secretary of State Scotland

- Christine De Luca, poet

- Rt Hon Henry McLeish, former first minister of Scotland

- Jeremy Peat, economist and visiting professor at University of Strathclyde

- Kevin Pringle, former SNP communications director

- Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, former secretary of state for defence and Nato secretary general

- Bill Rodger, treasurer, European Movement in Scotland

- Grahame Smith, general secretary, STUC