Yousaf criticises Labour ahead of pro-EU campaign event

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has hit out at Labour ahead of a pro-EU campaign event being held in Glasgow five years after Sir Keir Starmer stated he would push for a second vote on Brexit.

The First Minister will be joined by SNP colleagues at the event in Kelvingrove Park as well as a group of young students he said were robbed of the benefits of EU membership when the UK voted to leave the bloc in 2016.

Mr Yousaf pointed to reports three years after the vote of Sir Keir stating when he was shadow Brexit secretary he would back a second EU referendum as “one of myriad broken promises” made by the Labour leader in recent times.

He is expected to say the SNP is the only major party entering the next general election that supports EU membership and a vote for the party will be a vote to ‘Exit Brexit’ and rejoin the bloc.

Mr Yousaf said: “Brexit is yet another example of Scotland paying the price for the damaging policies of Westminster parties completely out of touch with Scotland’s values.

“Scotland did not vote for Brexit, yet Westminster has taken a sledgehammer to our economy – it’s hitting everything from our bills and our industries to our workforce and our students.

“However, like with so many issues, neither Labour or the Tories can offer Scotland an alternative.

“Another referendum on Brexit is just one of the many promises Keir Starmer has u-turned on, from £28bn green energy fund, capping bankers’ bonuses, lifting the two-child benefit cap and abolishing tuition fees – you simply can’t trust a word a Labour politician says.

“Today I’ll be joined by a group of young students who have had the benefits and opportunities that EU membership offers ripped away from them despite voting to remain.

“The pro-Brexit Labour party has failed Scotland’s young people – worse still, senior Labour figures in Holyrood hinted last week at the introduction of back-door tuition fees in Scotland.

“Let me be clear, the SNP will always fight to protect Scotland’s values and ensure that education will always be free in Scotland.

“Brexit and Westminster aren’t working for Scotland. The SNP is the only party at the upcoming election offering Scotland a route back into the European Union with the full powers of independence.”

Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray MP countered: “Fresh from siding with oil and gas giants against working people, Humza Yousaf and his Tory-enabling party are once more turning their fire on the only party that can replace the SNP.

“The best way to improve our relationship with our European partners is to elect a Labour government that will fundamentally reset the relationship with our friends in the EU in the national interest.

“This is what the SNP and their politics of grievance and division are so scared of.

“While Humza Yousaf plays pundit, Labour is out fighting for every vote because the only way to deliver the change our country needs is to vote for it.”