LEAVING the European Union without a deal would be preferable to breaking up the Union of the United Kingdom, David Mundell has insisted.
The Scottish Secretary said he did not want to see a no-deal Brexit but he could not accept an arrangement that "threatens the integrity of the United Kingdom" such as one put forward by the EU on Northern Ireland, which would see a border down the Irish Sea.
Mr Mundell argued Theresa May’s Chequers Plan represented a good deal and urged people from across the political divide to rally behind it to avoid crashing out of the EU with no agreement.
His remarks came as MPs engaged in a Government-inspired debate on “Strengthening the Union,” in which Labour's Ian Murray said the Brexit "chaos" caused by the Tories “reckless” referendum meant they now posed as big a threat to the continuation of the UK as the SNP did.
His Labour colleague Lesley Laird, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, accused both the Conservatives and the Nationalists of "sawing away at the legs that support the Union".
However, the SNP's Alison Thewliss drew laughter when she suggested the 300-year-old Union was "more like a fur coat nae knickers type of deal".
The Glasgow MP pointed to the plight of Waspi [Women Against State Pension Inequality] women, the child tax credit "rape clause" and the rollout of Universal Credit as evidence the Union was not working for Scotland.
Earlier following a regional Cabinet in Gateshead, Mr Mundell visited the Google Digital Garage in Edinburgh, where he made clear a no-deal scenario would be “very disruptive” to the country’s economy.
“It would be a very difficult situation to be in but it would be preferable to breaking up the United Kingdom; but I don't think it's preferable to an arrangement of the sort the Prime Minister is putting forward.
"I don't want to see a no-deal, I don't' think a no-deal situation is good for Scotland, good for the United Kingdom. But we can't have a situation where the EU can determine that part of the United Kingdom can be dealt with differently than other parts and one of their offers does do that in relation to Northern Ireland,” he added.
- Iain Macwhirter: No Deal Brexit would mean no more UK
Opening the Commons debate, Chloe Smith, the Cabinet Office Minister, reiterated that the Government's duty was to "govern for the whole of the United Kingdom" while also acknowledging the development of devolution.
"The Prime Minister's words show this Government believes this Union cannot and should not be taken for granted," she declared.
Ms Smith insisted being part of a "bigger, stronger" UK benefited all citizens in the four nations.
But Ms Laird denounced the Government’s “ineptitude, selfishness and brand of politics,” which had played into the hands of SNP “opportunists”.
"Do the Union a favour, do the country a favour, do the millions of people a favour whose lives are worse off under your rotten Government; move over and allow Labour to govern."
Today, her colleague, Jeremy Corbyn will be in Birmingham to launch Labour’s “Build It In Britain” campaign to boost UK manufacturing after Brexit.
The party leader will tell the EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, that the Tories’ lack of an industrial plan has “sold out” the country’s makers and he will promise Labour’s policies will “drive an industrial renaissance”.
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