Scottish Parliament Votes To Oppose Article 50; UK Parliament Will Vote On Final Deal

The Scottish Parliament voted overwhelmingly today to oppose the triggering of Article 50 and the start of Brexit negotiations. The vote was 90-34, with most of the opposition coming from Theresa May’s Conservative party representatives in Scotland. The vote is not binding on the British Parliament which is currently debating the bill to officially invoke Article 50. But it sends a strong signal about Scotland’s preferences and will lay the groundwork for yet another vote on Scottish independence.

Scots are especially upset because they were told they would be considered “equal partners” in the union during the run-up to the first vote on Scottish independence, which failed 55%-45%. Unsurprisingly, it now seems that promise was meaningless. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said, “This vote is far more than symbolic. It is a key test of whether Scotland’s voice is being listened to and whether our wishes can be accommodated within the UK process.” It seems pretty clear that the answer is no to both of those questions.

This will not be the last shot at stopping Brexit as it appears that May’s government has been forced to bow to pressure from MPs to allow another vote in Parliament to approve the final Brexit deal as part of the deal to allow the invocation of Article 50. Whether or not Scotland will still be part of the UK at that point is becoming more of an open question.