Alex Salmond
Main Page: Alex Salmond (Scottish National Party - Gordon)Department Debates - View all Alex Salmond's debates with the Cabinet Office
(7 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Prime Minister
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. As he has said, and as I have said before, a strong remaining EU of 27 will be in the best interests of the UK. We want to see the EU remaining strong, but we also want to see a strong UK playing its role as a global Britain. It is important that we keep the Union of the United Kingdom together; there is much that binds us, and I do not want to see anybody engaging in constitutional game-playing with the future of the United Kingdom.
Alex Salmond (Gordon) (SNP)
I congratulate the Prime Minister on bringing the country together and uniting Scotland behind our First Minister. The Prime Minister was asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) about what was said last year, so let me cite the Tory Bible The Daily Telegraph on 15 July:
“Theresa May has indicated that…she will not trigger the formal process for leaving the EU until there is an agreed ‘UK approach’ backed by Scotland.”
Was that misreporting by The Daily Telegraph, misspeaking by the Prime Minister, or is she still working on it?
The Prime Minister
As the right hon. Gentleman knows full well, we have been in discussions with the Scottish Government and the other devolved Administrations, recognising the issues they have raised, and recognising the concerns and the common ground between us. The right hon. Gentleman refers to the views of the Scottish people in relation to the announcement made yesterday by the Scottish First Minister; I might remind him that the evidence in Scotland is that actually the majority of the Scottish people do not want a second independence referendum.