As for UK Prime Minister Theresa May, although she may have won the vote of confidence motion put forward by the Labour party in the House of Commons yesterday by the skin of her teeth – only 19 votes to be precise – she still has the seemingly impossible task ahead of leading the UK out of the European Union on 29 March.
As her Brexit deal, two year in the making, was rejected by over 230 MPs on Tuesday, it is not clear how May is going to get any Brexit deal passed by a parliament where three quarters of the politicians are not in favor of leaving the EU.
Sputnik: What is it Nicola Sturgeon is waiting for by delaying the announcement of a second independence referendum?
Paul Monaghan: I think what the First Minister is waiting for is some certainty about the actions of the UK government; in terms of intentions to remove the UK from the European Union and just what actually the implications of that will be: will it be a No Deal, with it be the withdrawal agreement, will it be an extension of article 50 and a renegotiated settlement.
I think before the First Minister can call a second referendum we need to understand what it is the UK government is proposing for Scotland.
Sputnik: Ian Blackford has said that the party is willing to work constructively with the government, but has stipulated that options such as a second Brexit referendum, the extension of article 50 and the ruling out of a No deal be options still on the table. What do you think the chances are of the Prime Minister complying with this?
Paul Monaghan: I don't think there's any chance at all of Theresa May complying with those requirements and I think it's fair to say it's not just the SNP that has put those requirements on the table; Plaid Cymru and the Green party have come forward with similar proposals.
So today the UK government has removed from the table all of the possibilities that might secure a safe and stable settlement with the EU. So effectively what we're looking at now is no Brexit, or a No Deal Brexit, and Theresa May's been very vocal that Brexit will happen so if we narrow things down and start to realise that the only likely eventuality that is being presented to us now is crashing out of the EU with no deal.
Sputnik: Would it not be more in the interests of independence supporters for Scotland just to let the UK crash out of the EU, and then call for independence? Why is Ian Blackford still offering support to Theresa May?
Paul Monaghan: I don't know if he's necessarily supporting Theresa May; I think he's trying to offer support to a common-sense solution to the crisis the UK government has created which is quite a different thing to supporting Theresa May.
You know, I think everybody wants to see a constructive resolution to the crisis; everybody's been working very hard to deliver that. I think most politicians recognise that ordinary people sitting at home are worried about their jobs, what's going to happen about their families, what's going to happen with their neighbours, they might be EU nationals.
I think it's wholly irresponsible of the UK government to be actively working against the goodwill of other parties and saying we are happy to have cross-party talks but all we will discuss are the issues that are important to the Conservative party. And the outcome of that, incredibly, is going to be a No Deal.
Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Paul Monaghan and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
