STEPHEN Flynn has accused Nigel Farage of wrecking the UK’s economy with Brexit and now threatening tens of thousands of Scottish jobs in the renewable energy sector.
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the SNP Westminster leader said it was astonishing that Farage, who was central to the Brexit campaign, has faced no accountability for the damage done.
“Finances are in a mess and the politicians are lost as to how you get out of that particular mess,” Flynn said. “And yet the guy who orchestrated it … doesn’t have to face the consequences of the economic damage that Brexit has done to the UK.”
Flynn was clear about the scale of the crisis: “It has made us smaller and it has made us poorer.”
He urged Labour to take a stronger stance against Farage, saying: “If the Labour Party want to defeat Nigel Farage, they need to accept the premise that Brexit has been a disaster.”
Realigning with the EU, Flynn argued, is the best route to economic recovery. “The best way to grow the economy and to get our public finances in a fit state is to realign our relationship with the European Union.”
Flynn also addressed Reform UK’s impact on recent elections, pointing to their 26% share in the Hamilton by-election. But he rejected the idea that Reform is eating into SNP support.
“The SNP vote in that election reflected what national polling would suggest,” he said. “It’s the Conservatives and the Labour Party who are feeling it.”
Taking aim at Farage’s recent attacks on Scotland’s renewables, Flynn said: “The best way to take Nigel Farage on is to deal in the facts with him, to say to him 'if you are going to come after Scotland, you are putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs'.
"You’re going to leave cities like mine [Aberdeen] looking like Detroit in 30 years’ time, rather than an expansive, future-looking city which exports its skills and expertise across the globe.”
“He wants to sabotage our renewable future to serve his own ideology, and whilst doing so, doesn't have to face any of the consequences for decisions he's made in relation to collapsing the UK's economy with Brexit."
