Brexit: Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson refuses to rule out second EU referendum

Crude analogy: Scottish Tory leader said the Labour Party was 'fumbling with its flies'
PA
Sebastian Mann13 July 2016
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The leader of the Tories in Scotland today refused to rule out a second Brexit referendum as she demanded Theresa May assures EU migrants they are welcome in the UK.

Ruth Davidson said a fresh poll was "highly unlikely" in the current circumstances but added she "honestly" did not know what was going to happen.

Speaking in Westminster, she also hit out at Labour, using a sexual analogy to compare the Tories’ rapid leadership battle to a party which is “still fumbling with its flies”.

Ms Davidson was a supporter of the incoming Prime Minister Mrs May in her party’s short-run contest.

But today she sought guarantees from the new leader to act swiftly to assure the three million EU nationals living in the UK that they can remain.

She said: "That's an assurance that I want from the Government, and I want it pretty quick. It's not enough to say to people who have come here and made a home here, and have made their life here, that we want your labour, that's all we want.

"We have got to be able also to say we want your brains, we want your culture, we want your passion, we want you in our country, making our country better, and giving these people security.”

Ms Davidson said the Brexit result had put a strain on the Union, but another independence referendum was not needed because two million people in Scotland had voted to stay in the UK in 2014, as opposed to 1.6 million people who opted to remain in the EU.

"The result is testing this country's sense of unity. In Scotland, where people voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, the result is testing the binds of the Union as well," the Scottish Tory leader said.

Ms Davidson pointedly refused to rule out a second Brexit vote, stating: "The honest answer is I don't know what's going to happen - I think it would be highly unlikely."

Joking about how speedily the Tories had put Mrs May in place, compared with the pace of the Labour bid to oust Jeremy Corbyn, Ms Davidson said: "Labour is still fumbling with its flies while the Tories are enjoying their post-coital cigarette."

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