Cool Heads and Warm Hearts

Scottish MEP Alyn Smith gets a standing ovation after a passionate plea to the rest of Europe:

“I want my country to be internationalist, co-operative, ecological, far, European, and the people from Scotland along with the people of Northern Ireland and the people of London and lots and lots of people in Wales and England also voted to remain within our family of nations.”

The idea that there are no opportunities for negotiating Scotland’s role in Europe now seems increasingly far-fetched. Nigel Farage’s pariah status is also doing us all a favour.

A magnificent speech by Alyn.

Comments (17)

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  1. Thomas Ritchie says:

    Nigel Farage should be locked away for being so bloody offensive. All these Tory members are playing down this brexit as if nothing had happened but they have brought the country into a mess with a political vacuum now the order of the day at Westminster and it is totally unacceptable. I think the whole Tory party was behind this. The treasury and bank of England have spent millions to keep the
    pound at a reasonable value. To say it does not matter it has already cost the country more than we give the EU at least ten times over.

  2. Graeme Purves says:

    He wants our country to be “fair”, I think.

    1. Alf Baird says:

      “Fair”? I don’t see him or anyone in the SNP offering a Scots Language (Scotland) Act, which is required if our human rights are really to be respected.

  3. Douglas says:

    Muy bueno, Alyn, muchas, muchas gracias. No esperaba menos de ti. Slainte mhath mo charaid.

  4. Bavaria says:

    Spoken from the heart. I just hope that Alyn and his Scottish colleagues will prevail and that the EU hierarchy understand and appreciate the benefits of having Scotland being in the EU. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

  5. Alex Beveridge says:

    I had the good fortune to be paired with Alyn while canvassing during the 2015 General Electiom.. He was good enoughto give of his time to help us overturn a substantial Labour majority, A fine man, and a great representative for Scotland.

  6. Justin Kenrick says:

    And see 2 more minutes – giving the context of other MEPs also calling out the lies:

    1. K. A. Mylchreest says:

      Nous sommes Écossais! 🙂

  7. Jim Howie says:

    Why go for the ‘BBC edit’ of this – the one where the standing ovation is left out?

    1. Hi Jim – it was the first one that I found that I could embed.I’ll try and find the one you mean and re-upload… [I promise it’s not a conspiracy!]

  8. Melville Jones says:

    One can only hope that the European Parliament realises that Farage, who tried to mastermind the Brexit campaign, is a member of the Parliament, and although Leading the campaign to exit the EU, still clearly intends to continue to attend a Parliament he despises. His views are racist and totally unwanted in Scotland.

    1. Crubag says:

      Apart from the 140,500 Scots who voted UKIP for the euros? 50% more votes than the Greens and gave them one of the five MEP slots. That was a tripling of their vote from 2009.

      Will there is still any demand for the UKIP project after June 2015? Probably depends on the speed of the exit. They don’t seem to impress as MEPs – though that Parliament is as much theatre as substance – big decisions are taken by the Council and the Commission.

  9. Douglas says:

    Nigel Farage’s fascist tendencies as a schoolboy seem not to have come to light….

    https://ukip-vs-eukip.com/2013/09/19/nigel-farage-letter-reveals-concerns-over-fascism/farage-school-letter-1981-01/

    1. MBC says:

      Thanks for this link Douglas. That’s a REALLY significant document as it provides incontrovertible evidence that Farage is at heart a Fascist. Any claims that he is merely legitimately concerned about immigration is a mask. Of course we always ‘knew’ this (in our hearts) but this is clear evidence and should be more widely known. OK, so he was a teenager at the time, but someone who has such extreme views at such an early age is unlikely to change in adulthood.

  10. JohnEdgar says:

    The Eng-Welshxit has led to paralysis at Westminster; the two unionist parties are logjammed and unable to move on to the next phase the English and Welsh voters mandated them to enact – Article 50.
    Why? The EU was portrayed as toxic, and promises were made about the new dawn ny the Leavers.
    Yet, now they still hesitate, slag off the very institutions on the continent they will have to negotiate with and hurl insults impune!! (Garage in the EU Parliament).
    These attitudes are innate and deeply held implying we are the norm and all you lot ( words even Cameron uses in The HoC) are the abnorm.
    When the Tory-Ukip mask falls, one senses the true persona behind the utterance.
    The isolation of the Tories at Holyrood today was revealing; the other former Better Together parties realising the mess the Tories have got the country into.
    The reaching out to the EU from Holyrood is the first steps at a foreign policy outreach from Edinburgh to the EU and the remaining 27, many of whom have freed themselves from incorporating unions like the USSR and the UK.
    The Scottish Parliament had roared.

  11. David Allan says:

    I’m curious to know can the person who leaked this letter complete the story – Did Farage become a prefect?

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