Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, is under fire over a plan to send a permanent envoy to the de facto capital of Europe as part of his plot to rejoin the European Union should he win the next Scottish elections. He is currently in Brussels on a “diplomatic” trip.
Among critics on June 26 was Former Brexit Party MEP Brian Monteith, who told Brussels Signal: “The UK Government should act to clip Mr Yousaf’s wings by instigating auditing of spending on such party-political junkets and send the bill to the Scottish Nationalists.”
According to a statement from his office, Scottish National Party (SNP) chief Yousaf is in the Belgian capital for “a series of trade, diplomatic and policy engagements”.
Yousaf said: “During this visit, I will set out Scotland’s vision for a meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship with the European Union, highlighting what Scotland can contribute to support the ambitions of the EU.”
However, Monteith, who was among the first intake of Scottish Parliament members following its formation, countered that: “The First Minister has no mandate to promote Scotland’s secession from the United Kingdom at taxpayers’ expense in Brussels or anywhere else outside the UK, and is acting ultra vires – beyond his powers.
“Likewise, the establishment of offices as shadow embassies with an envoy should all be seen as ultra vires spending.”
Yousaf’s trip to the Belgian capital follows his appearance on Scottish television at the weekend where he told current affairs show presenter, Martin Geissler, that a win for the SNP in the next Scottish Parliament elections would be a mandate to break away from the UK and apply for accession to the EU as an independent state.
“So it will be absolutely, abundantly clear to people, if they’re voting for the SNP, they are voting for Scotland to become an independent country to support that proposition,” he said.
“And we’ll do that through a number of different ways,” he added.
“For example, a draft legal text on the withdrawal agreement, the drafting of an interim constitution, [and] the creation of a special envoy to Brussels because our case for independence is based on a Scotland in the European Union.”
While Yousaf is upbeat about an SNP election success, Monteith remains unconvinced.
“The pro-UK parties won a majority of votes in the last Scottish election and support is now even greater, ” he said.
“But, if Mr Yousaf is so confident of his mandate, he can always call an election to demonstrate it.”
