Brexit protest: ‘Rejoiners’ furiously attack EU exit and BEG European consulates for help
Brexit: Scotland must fight ‘hard’ to remain says campaigner
Demonstrators from Yes to EU gathered on Thursday afternoon to protest against the end of the transition period and Britain leaving the bloc. Campaigners claimed they were “very sad” as they undertook socially distanced protest outside the Scottish Parliament.
Morag Williamson, from the group, said: “We are very sad and very angry at the same time.
“We don’t want to leave the family of Europe – but we are being dragged out against our will.”
Campaigners from the Pro-EU group visited Edinburgh consulates of several EU countries including Romania and Ireland to plead for their voices to be heard.
The group said on Twitter: “Happy New Year to our friends in #Romania – hope you like our greetings card, delivered to your Edinburgh consulate!
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“The Scottish people did not vote for Brexit.”
Two other pro-Eu groups, eu+me and The European Movement in Scotland (EMiS), also spoke out as Scotland left the bloc on New Year’s Eve at the end of the transition period.
Mark Lazarowicz of EMiS stressed support for remaining as part of the EU was “higher than ever”.
The former Labour MP added: “With all the crises the world faces, the argument for the European Union is stronger than ever – and opinion polls show that support for EU membership is higher than it was at the time of the 2016 referendum, both in Scotland and across the whole of the UK.
“Whether Scotland becomes part of the EU again as an independent nation-state, or through the UK as a whole, we know it will not happen overnight.
“But being a realist doesn’t mean we stop campaigning for our country to be part of that wider European project again.”
Meanwhile, cross-party campaign group eu+me claimed the deal struck by the UK Government “leaves us all poorer”.
eu+me director Alastair MacColl said: “When I wake up on January 1st I’ll still be European.
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“That’s what you accept in exchange for progress, prosperity and peace.”
He concluded by saying he would campaign with a network of like “minded pro Europeans, for those social and democratic values that make us European.”
It comes as Nicola Sturgeon said Europe should “keep a light on” as Scotland will be “back soon”.
The First Minister tweeted twice after the Brexit transition period formally ended at 11pm on December 31st.
In one Tweet, Sturgeon reiterated the SNP’s call for an independent Scotland to join the EU.
Tweeting a picture of the words Europe and Scotland attached by a heart, she said: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”
62 percent of Scots voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum.
However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the “great new deal” with the EU secured on Christmas Eve honours the “most basic promises” of the 2016 referendum and meant the UK has “taken back control of our money, our laws and our waters”.
Mr Johnson added, “We need the Brexit-given chance to turbocharge those sectors in which we excel, to do things differently and to do them better.”
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