Brexit

Urgent Question - Legal challenge to EU Continuity Bill

Stewart McDonald MP said the UK Government's legal challenge to the Scottish Parliament's EU Continuity Bill raises serious questions about their attitude towards to the Scottish Parliament.

Brexit bill: Government loses key vote

The House of Commons has agreed a proposal that the final Brexit deal has to be approved in a new law passed by Parliament. Stewart McDonald MP voted to approve Amendment 7 to the EU Withdrawal Bill, which was passed by 309 to 305 votes.

MP pledges support to campaign to #KeepErasmusPlus

Stewart McDonald MP has supported a campaign launched by youth and third sector organisations across the United Kingdom to keep ErasmusPlus, a vital European exchange programme which has benefited over half a million people.

EU Withdrawal Bill - Committee Stage

Whilst I still maintain it is wrong that Scotland be taken out of the EU against its wishes, and we should be working hard towards retaining our place in the Single Market, we still have important work to do to ensure the Brexit Bill protects everybody’s interests.

I have received a lot of messages from constituents regarding the Grieve amendments and delegated powers. These are extremely important, and several of my SNP colleagues across the House have sponsored these amendments.

We in the SNP are extremely concerned about the potential power grab the Brexit Bill throws up. The Bill is going to be an unprecedented legislative task, aiming to convert 80,000 items of EU law into UK law in preparation for Brexit, and we want to make sure that the Government does not use antiquated, backdoor measures – the so-called Henry VIII powers – to escape parliamentary scrutiny. We also need to ensure that the Great Repeal Bill does not turn into the ‘Great Power Grab’ and the Tories need to make it unequivocally clear that devolved matters will be returned to the Scottish Parliament after Brexit.

Should the Bill present such threats and the amendments address these concerns, I will vote in favour of the amendments, continue to hold the UK Government to account and continue to defend the interests of Scotland.

I myself have added my name to amendments and new clauses. As SNP Spokesperson for Defence, I aim to ensure our common foreign and security policy with the EU is not compromised as a result of Brexit and have added my name to amendments that address such issues. Additionally, as I was previously member of the Transport Select Committee, I have also added my name to an amendment that would ensure the UK Government outlines how we retain access to EU Emissions Trading System markets – as this is crucial to our environmental protection and safeguards.

These amendments, along with the UK Government's bizarre attempts to enshrine the date and time of Brexit into UK law, which could result in this Tory Government blundering its way to no deal, deserve to be heavily scrutinised, and I shall be doing my up-most to protect the interests of Glasgow South and Scotland as a whole.