Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has refused to rule out a second Brexit referendum as she urged the new prime minister to hurry up and give assurances to EU migrants that they are welcome in the country.
While leaving the door open to another nationwide poll on EU membership, Ms Davidson said such a vote was “highly unlikely” in the current circumstances.
A supporter of incoming prime minister Theresa May during the Tory leadership battle, Ms Davidson insisted the Government needed to act swiftly to guarantee the status of the three million EU nationals living in the UK.
“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 told a press gallery event in Westminster.
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.”
The Scottish Tory leader, who is engaged to marry her female partner, said she would prefer it if there was less comment about the gender and sexuality of politicians.
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.”
