Young voters should not 'shut themselves off' from cancelling Brexit and re-joining the EU in future, the SNP insist

  • SNP MP Stewart McDonald suggested the Brexit referendum can be reversed
  • Told BBC Question Time young voters will have SNP allies if they want to undo it  
  • Theresa May achieved a Brexit breakthrough after EU agreed to transition deal
  • Brexiteers reacted with fury with Tory MP Peter Bone branding it a nonsense

Young Britons should not 'shut themselves off' from cancelling Brexit in the future, an SNP MP said last night.

Stewart McDonald suggested the result of the historic referendum could be reversed as 'no one generation can bind another'.

And he said that if young voters decided to mount a bid to undo the Brexit process in a few years' time they would have 'allies in the SNP'.

But his remarks, made on the BBC's Question Time last night, were branded 'nonsense' by Brexiteers.

Tory MP Peter Bone told Mail Online: 'The SNP don't accept the democratic decision of the people of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

'The whole of our system is based on making democratic decisions and then accepting those decisions - especially on something like a single issue like Brexit or Scottish independence.

'The SNP would like to have referendum after referendum until they get the answer they ant - then they wont want any more.' 

Stewart McDonald suggested the result of the historic referendum could be reversed as 'no one generation can bind another'

Stewart McDonald suggested the result of the historic referendum could be reversed as 'no one generation can bind another'

Tory MP ad leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said: 'Would it not be better if people embraced democracy rather than sulking when they have lost - in the SNP's case, twice.'

And Mr McDonald's words appeared to leave the audience less than impressed as they prompted a meagre ripple of applause.

What is in the EU Council's new negotiating rules on trade talks?

The EU Council today adopted  negotiating guidelines ahead of planned formal trade talks. It says:  

  • The EU wants tariff free trade with Britain after Brexit.
  • But it warns Britain cannot have 'partial participation' in the EU single market to achieve this. Services - crucial to the UK - will only be included with restrictions.
  • The document sets out a willingness on the EU side to let Britain stay inside the Single Market and Customs Union if Theresa May dropped her red lines on the issue.
  • There is common ground on a close defence, security and policing partnership. 
  • The EU wants a deal on aviation to keep planes flying after Brexit  
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While Theresa May's plans for Brexit reached a major milestone today as EU leaders agreed to the transition deal.

The Brexit breakthrough means that talks on a future trade deal can finally kick start in earnest.

Appearing on Question Times last night, Mr McDonald, the SNP MP for Glasgow South, raised the prospect of the whole lengthy process being  reversed.

He said: 'I think it's generally accepted that young people are more pro remaining in the European Union.

'What I would say is don't shut yourself off from remaining outside of it forever and a day to come.

'No one generation can bind another, and if a future generation decides that it's future lies with its allies and friends in Europe, as it has done for decades in the past, then let's get back into it.

'You'll have allies in the SP if you choose to do so.' 

His remarks came after Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable was left humiliated after he wrongly claimed that eight European leaders backed a second referendum.

Sir Vince said the eight prime ministers had agreed to back a British vote on the final Brexit deal.

He said the group had sent a 'clear signal' that Brexit should be challenged by supposedly agreeing to a joint statement published by the Lib Dems. 

Owen Smith breaks ranks to call for second EU referendum

Labour shadow cabinet minister Owen Smith said a  second public vote on the Brexit deal should be held (file pic)

Labour shadow cabinet minister Owen Smith said a  second public vote on the Brexit deal should be held (file pic)

Labour shadow cabinet minister Owen Smith today broke ranks with Jeremy Corbyn to demand a second EU referendum.

And he urged his party to formally back a second poll on the final deal as efforts to undo the vote are stepped up.

He told The Guardian: 'Labour needs to do more than just back a soft or guarantee a soft border in Ireland.

'Given that it is increasingly obvious that the promises which the Brexiteers made to the voters, especially, not only their pledge of an additional £350m a week for the NHS, are never going to be honoured, we have the right to ask if Brexit remains the right choice for the country. 

'And to ask, too, that the country has a vote on whether to accept the terms and true costs of that choice once they are clear.'

His remarks highlight deep splits in labour over the EU, with Mr Corbyn being a longtime Eurosceptic but most pf the party's MPs backing Remain.

Many of the party's traditional supporters backed Brexit, but the vocal campaigners who swept Mr Corbyn to the leadership are overwhelmingly Remain.  

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But within minutes of the statement being issued the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE) - which represents the leaders - disowned the statement.

Meanwhile, Brussels today rubber stamped the transition deal and rules on trade talks in a major new milestone on the road to Brexit.

EU Council President Donald Tusk announced EU leaders had agreed the two documents following a brief discussion at the summit in Brussels today. 

Theresa May was not due to take part in the talks, which are only held between the remaining 27 member states. 

The PM stayed overnight to take part in talks on Donald Trump's steel tariffs. 

But Mrs May is facing a mounting challenge in Britain where Remain-backing campaigners are demanding a second referendum.

Labour shadow cabinet minister Owen Smith today broke rank with Jeremy Corbyn to demand a second referendum.

And he urged his party to formally back a second poll as efforts to undo the vote are stepped up.

He told The Guardian: 'Labour needs to do more than just back a soft or guarantee a soft border in Ireland.

'Given that it is increasingly obvious that the promises which the Brexiteers made to the voters, especially, not only their pledge of an additional £350m a week for the NHS, are never going to be honoured, we have the right to ask if Brexit remains the right choice for the country. 

'And to ask, too, that the country has a vote on whether to accept the terms and true costs of that choice once they are clear.'

His remarks highlight deep splits in labour over the EU, with Mr Corbyn being a longtime Eurosceptic but most pf the party's MPs backing Remain.

Mr McDonald  said that if young voters decided to mount a bid to undo the Brexit process in a few years time they would have 'allies in the SNP'

Mr McDonald  said that if young voters decided to mount a bid to undo the Brexit process in a few years time they would have 'allies in the SNP'

And while many of the party's traditional supporters in the Labour heartlands backed Brexit, the vocal campaigners inside Momentum who swept Mr Corbyn to the leadership are overwhelmingly Remain.    

Mr Smith said remaining in both the customs union and the single market are the only way of preventing what he warns would be the 'hardest ever' border in Ireland.

He said: 'The damage a disorderly and ill-thought out Brexit could do in Ireland is enormous. We are often told Brexit threatens to 'reimpose' a so-called hard border on the island of Ireland, but that understates the problem.

'Because the economic border that a hard Brexit would create on Ireland would be the hardest ever.'