3 October 2017
The UKs Green MEPs have responded to today’s overwhelming vote in favour of a resolution on Brexit in the European Parliament [1]. Of 678 MEPs present, 82% voted for the resolution, with only 14% voting against and 4% abstaining. A number of amendments tabled by UKIP were all rejected.
Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London, said:
“This level of unity in the European Parliament both between political groups and also with the other EU institutions is unprecedented. MEPs have sent a clear message that in all the three key areas of citizens’ rights, a financial settlement and the question of the Irish border there has been insufficient progress for talks to move on to the next phase.”
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, said:
“The European Union is a family founded on the principle of peace and solidarity and in that vein, we’ve seen the European Parliament come together today to show unshakeable unity on Brexit – yet again.
“MEPs are in wide agreement about the Tory government’s lack of progress in the Brexit negotiations. The split cabinet might have just about agreed to kick the Brexit can down the road, with a two-year transition, but there’s still no coherent plan and the ‘cake and eat it’ approach is very much in evidence – they’re in la-la land while the EU27 are in the real world.”
Speaking in a debate ahead of today’s vote [2], Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, said:
“Theresa May said that the United Kingdom has never felt totally at home in the European Union. Personally, I have never felt less at home in the UK since the vote to leave the EU.
“Such a sentiment is echoed by many people: by the majority of young people who still consider themselves European; by people living in our diverse and multicultural cities; and, of course, by those European citizens who have chosen, for reasons of love, work or study, to make the UK their home.
“If Brexit is a divorce then we are the children of the divorce and the process is a painful and troubling one.”
Ends
Notes
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5tlZlvQ4s0
Follow this news feed: Green Party