MEP Alyn Smith: People in Scotland are Angry at the Prospect of Being Forced to Leave the EU Against Their Will (EXCLUSIVE)

• 07.07.2016, 19:18
•  Europe,  World,  Interview

modern.scot

"Armedia" IAA presents an exclusive interview with a Member of the European Parliament for the SNP (Scottish National Party), Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, Alyn Smith. 

-  Mr. Smith, was Scotland considering the scenario of Brexit during this whole process of campaign or was it a complete shock for the authorities?

- From the start, the UK’s EU referendum was merely an attempt by David Cameron to control disputes within his own party. Both I and my SNP colleagues, along with many other colleagues in the UK from the Greens and Plaid Cymru in Wales, have always maintained that the EU is brilliant for the UK. I do not deny that there are areas to be improved, however we benefit hugely from EU membership.

The Leave campaign across the UK was deceitful with lie after lie and even those leading the Remain campaign did not run an engaging campaign. In Scotland, myself and my team published the Wee Bleu Book (available at www.scotlandineurope.eu) and decided to run a positive campaign. We wanted to show the people of Scotland how much the EU positively impacts our everyday lives. I think the fact that every, single local authority in Scotland (all 32) voted to Remain in the EU has proven that a positive campaign could have been successful across the UK.

I don’t believe enough of an effort was made to tackle the lies which were churned out by the Leave campaign and now we have been left with a situation where Scotland could potentially be dragged out of the EU against its will and that simply will not suffice.

- How will Brexit affect the life in Scotland? What are public moods?

- Scotland is absolutely determined to remain a part of the EU. Regardless of a person’s trade or background, they benefit from the EU in Scotland. Our young people who voted with a very large majority to remain in the EU benefit hugely from Erasmus and Horizon 2020 research funding for universities. Our farmers benefit from CAP payments and so too do Scotland’s rural communities. EU funding has helped to secure thousands of jobs and supported projects across the country. We are a multicultural nation and we embrace that fact. We have made it abundantly clear that we do not want to lose out on all of the advantages we gain from being members of the EU and the public are rightly angry at the prospect of being forced to leave the EU against our will and by those who do not even have a contingency plan.

- According to you, what the next steps of Scotland should be in this situation and what are the expectations from the international community?

- We fully expect that Scotland is included in negotiations with the EU following the new Prime Minister invoking Article 50. We want to make it clear to European nationals residing in Scotland that it is their home and they should not feel scared or anxious about the future. As it stands, all options are on the table for Scotland but our main focus is showing our EU neighbors how willing we are to cooperate and how pro-European and progressive we are as a nation.