SCOTTISH Labour has insisted its UK colleagues will be tasked with “fixing the mess the Tories have made of Brexit” as it ignored calls for Anas Sarwar to pledge support to rejoin the European Union.
Mr Sarwar has been put under pressure to support demands to rejoin the EU after UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted that if he forms the next government, he will not push forward any plans to reverse Brexit.
More than 60 per cent of Scots opposed Brexit in the 2016 referendum, but Labour will not support EU membership in an apparent bid to entice northern English voters back to the party who voted for the Conservatives in 2019, largely over Boris Johnson’s pledge to “get Brexit done”.
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It comes after a new poll this week found that almost two thirds of Brits would now support a referendum being held on the UK rejoining the bloc.
The study by Savanta for the Independent, found that 65% of people believe there should be another vote, an increase form 55% at the same point last year.
The poll found that 22% believe a vote should take place immediately and 24% think the referendum should be held within five years.
On Thursday, Sir Keir doubled down on his pledge to implement Brexit.
In his first keynote speech of the year, the Labour leader said his party will properly deliver on the Brexit campaign message with a pledge to “take back control” as he promised to turn it from a “slogan to a solution”.
This comes just three years after Sir Keir promised to “bring back” freedom of movement. Labour’s Lisa Nandy has previously branded rejoining the EU or the single market a “fantasy”.
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The Scottish Greens have called on Mr Sarwar to dictate Scottish Labour’s position on Brexit instead of following Sir Keir’s lead from Westminster.
Scottish Greens external affairs spokesperson, Ross Greer, said: “Brexit is a disaster. We can all see the devastating impact it has had on almost every sector of our economy, never mind the automatic rights to travel and work across the continent which we have lost.
“Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the Labour party continues to indulge the worst excesses and fantasies of the reactionary Tories who have inflicted this shambles by pretending that they can ‘make Brexit work’.”
He added: “For years after the Brexit vote, Anas Sarwar and his Scottish Labour colleagues claimed to be amongst the strongest supporters of protecting things like our freedom of movement and market access.
"They know all too well how damaging Brexit has been for Scotland and that every day it endures will make it harder for us to go back.
“That is why I am urging them to finally break with the totally self-defeating policy that has been set for them in London and to stick up for the people who elected them.
“Even at this late stage, they can still join with the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland, who know that Brexit has been a disaster and want a better, more progressive future as a European nation.
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“With the Tories utterly committed to a hard Brexit and Labour content to back them every step of the way, they are making it very clear that the only way to secure any kind of European future for Scotland is with the powers of independence.”
Last year, Labour’s first minister in Wales, Mark Drakeford, backed Sir Keir’s rejection of reversing Brexit, insisting that “the world has moved on".
Scottish Labour constitution spokesperson, Sarah Boyack, said: “The Greens aren’t offering an end to the upheaval and damage of Brexit – they are offering more of the same.
“Their separatist plans would be devastating for the Scottish economy and would result in needless barriers between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
“Only Labour are committed to fixing the mess the Tories have made of Brexit, building a stronger relationship with Europe, and protecting the UK-wide single market.”
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