EFA MEPs lead cross-party declaration on Brexit

Members of the European Free Alliance (EFA) group in the European Parliament have put forward a Joint Declaration signed by UK MEPs from different political parties and groups in which they commit themselves to work together in the face of Brexit, and have called upon continental colleagues to support their efforts.

Meeting in Brussels, representatives of the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru/Party of Wales, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Alliance, were able to sign the Brussels Declaration stating:

We, the undersigned UK Members of the European Parliament, representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, declare as follows:

The proroguing, or shutting down the UK Parliament in order to limit scrutiny of the implications of a potential no deal Brexit is completely unacceptable. Limiting the opportunity for MPs to debate, vote and crucially, to legislate, cannot be the response to a referendum in which Leave campaigned for the UK Parliament to “take back control”.

In the continuation of the spirit that UK MEPs have worked in since the 2016 Referendum we commit ourselves to continue to work across party lines and declare that it is vital that MPs do likewise.

We were all elected just four months ago with clear mandates. We are working together. We call upon our European friends and colleagues to assist domestic efforts in keeping the door open to us.

The Declaration was signed by:

Scottish National Party (Greens/EFA)

Alyn Smith MEP, Aileen Mcleod MEP, Christian Allard MEP

Plaid Cymru / Party of Wales (Greens/EFA)

Jill Evans MEP

Green Party (Greens/EFA)

Molly Scott Cato MEP, Alexandra Phillips MEP, Magid Magid MEP, Scott Ainslie MEP, Ellie Chowns MEP, Gina Dowding MEP, Catherine Rowett MEP

Labour Party (S&D)

Richard Corbett MEP, Seb Dance MEP, Jude Kirton-Darling MEP, Neena Gill MEP, John Howarth MEP, Theresa Griffin MEP, Jackie Jones MEP, Julie Ward MEP, Rory Palmer MEP, Claude Moraes MEP

Liberal Democrat Party (Renew Europe)

Catherine Bearder MEP, Caroline Voaden MEP, Chris Davies MEP, Phil Bennion MEP, Jane Brophy MEP, Judith Bunting MEP, Dinesh Dhamija MEP, Barbara Ann Gibson MEP, Antony Hook MEP, Martin Horwood MEP, Shaffaq Mohammed MEP, Lucy Nethsingha MEP, Bill Newton Dunn MEP, Sheila Ritchie MEP, Irina Von Wiese MEP, Luisa Porritt MEP

Alliance Party (Renew Europe)

Naomi Long MEP