Only the Greens are ‘rock solid’ on Brexit opposition, party leader claims

The Scottish Greens have argued they are the only the only political party to have maintained a “rock solid” Brexit position.

In her closing speech at the party conference in Edinburgh, the parliamentary co-leader Alison Johnstone criticised both the Conservatives and Labour on Brexit.

She said: “In the face of timidity, stupidity, selfishness, tribalism and outright racism we have been rock solid.

“People know where we stand on the EU. Members of other parties don’t have that certainty.

“But folk know the Greens wholeheartedly want to be in the EU, and to work to change what needs to be changed. No ifs, no buts.”

She accused the Conservatives of having “plumbed new depths” on Brexit, while saying the behaviour of the Labour Party on the issue has left her “baffled”.

The MSP told delegates: ““How can it be the case that not a single Scottish Conservative has voiced their disquiet about the behaviour of their colleagues in Westminster?

“We are told that the majority of Scottish Conservatives, like the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland, like every local authority area in Scotland, voted to remain in the EU, yet not a peep. Not even in the face of the hardest of Brexits.

“I was going to say that I’m not surprised at their behaviour, but I am. Their behaviour has plumbed new depths.

“It’s now clear that they don’t care if livelihoods are lost, if ordinary people suffer as a result of their obsession.”

“And what about the so-called official opposition? Their initial response, the incredible Jobs First Brexit? To put it politely I am absolutely baffled by their behaviour.

“International socialists? International socialists don’t collude with the Tories to remove the right of citizens to freedom of movement within the EU.

“Voting to remove the rights of people to move, and to work. The so-called party of the worker.”