Thread by @theSNP

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Today, the SNP - and I hope Parliament - will vote on principle.

We will vote against a rotten Brexit that Scotland has rejected all along."

NS: "And we will say no to a hard Brexit deal that damages our economy, our society and the opportunities of this and future generations.

I’ll say more on that shortly."

NS: "But first, a challenge to Tory MSPs who say we should be backing this deal.

If you support this deal, then set out in clear and simple terms what the benefits of it to Scotland actually are."

NS: "And tell us how it comes close to honouring Scotland’s choices.

My prediction - the Tories will do none of that. Because, quite simply, they can’t.

Far from respecting Scotland’s democratic wishes, this deal rides roughshod over them."

NS: "And compared to EU membership, it has no benefits - only massive downsides.

To the eternal shame of the Tories, it even betrays - wholesale - the promises made to fishermen."

NS: "So, bereft of any positive case, what we will hear instead is desperate, diversionary nonsense.

They’ll say we have to back this deal not because it’s any good, but because the alternative is worse."

NS: "That, frankly, is an insult to Scotland’s intelligence.

It’s legally suspect for a start."

NS: "But more to the point, as we’ll soon see, the deal will pass, regardless of how Scotland’s MPs vote, because that’s what the Westminster establishment has decided."

NS: "The fact is Scotland’s voice has been ignored all along on Brexit, every single step of the way."

NS: "But the real disgrace of the Tory position is the notion at the heart of it - that the best Scotland can ever hope for is a choice between a terrible outcome and an even worse outcome."

NS: "The bad news for them is that, just like Brexit, that’s a notion people in Scotland are rejecting.

More and more people are realising that we can do better."

NS: "We don’t have to accept whatever dismal future the Tories decide to foist upon us.

We can choose our own future instead."

NS: "It’s time for Scotland to get the best possible deal - and that’s a future as an independent, European nation."

NS: "62% of people in Scotland voted to stay in the European Union.

In not one, but two subsequent UK general elections, pro-EU parties got an overwhelming majority of votes in Scotland."

NS: "These votes reflect the economic and practical benefits that EU membership has brought to our country.

But they also reflect something more fundamental."

NS: "People in Scotland, by and large, and for all its imperfections, support what the EU represents.

Its fundamental principle - that independent nations should share sovereignty for the common good – is one most people support."

NS: "Its values – democracy, equality, solidarity, the rule of law and respect for human rights – are ones we share."

NS: " And throughout the Brexit process, we have all seen - and I suspect most people will long remember - the stark contrast between the EU’s solidarity with Ireland, and the UK government’s utter contempt for Scotland."

NS: "The fact is there is no Brexit settlement that would ever fulfil the wishes of people in Scotland.

But there were outcomes that would have protected our interests better than this one."

NS: "Back in December 2016, the Scottish Government published a plan for compromise.

While recognising the UK would leave the EU, we proposed staying in the single market and customs union."

NS: "It was the obvious compromise solution.

But the UK Government dismissed it out of hand.

It disregarded Scotland’s views, values and interests."

NS: "And now, it has agreed a deal which is disastrous for Scotland.

A deal that puts barriers in the way of Scotland’s exports."

NS: "The Tories are trumpeting - pun intended - the fact that this deal delivers zero tariffs. As if we are all meant to just forget that there were already no tariffs."

NS: "But now, to avoid tariffs in the future, businesses will need to meet a whole host of complex regulatory requirements.

The estimated cost of all of that to businesses in the UK is £7 billion a year."

NS: "Service providers could now face different restrictions for each EU country.

And the finance sector - almost 10% of Scotland’s economy - is still in the dark about what will replace the all important passport."

NS: "Ordinary people will pay a price even for simple family holidays – new health insurance requirements, roaming charges for mobile phones, more time-consuming queues at airports.

There are consequences, too, for our justice system."

NS: "The police will no longer have real time, immediate access to alerts from EU partners on wanted or missing persons."

NS: "As well as making us less safe, the deal also makes us less free.

The rights to work, study, and live across an entire continent have been taken away."

NS: "And it will also be far more difficult for us to attract workers from other EU countries.

One of Scotland’s key challenges – an ageing and potentially shrinking population – has been made worse."

NS: "These costs, these harms, are real. They start taking effect in two days’ time.

They will cost jobs and reduce prosperity in Scotland.

And the benefits they bring are pretty much non-existent."

NS: "Even fishing - the one sector that did expect benefits from Brexit - has been comprehensively let down.

The Tory fishing promises were never deliverable - many of us pointed that out."

NS: "But they were made and the industry had a right to rely on them.

Every single one of them has been broken."

NS: "Douglas Ross, Alister Jack, every Scottish Tory MP said, in writing, that the UK and Scotland must have complete control and full sovereignty over waters."

NS: "They said that tying fisheries access to a trade deal was a red line that must not be crossed.

If it was, they said, the UK would be leaving the Common Fisheries Policy 'in name only' and that in their words, not mine, would be a 'betrayal of Scotland'."

NS: "Well, that betrayal is there for all to see in this deal.

A long-term arrangement guaranteeing EU boats access to UK waters."

NS: "Access and quota shares included in the future economic partnership.

Access to waters not just tied to the overall trade deal - but hard-wired into it."

NS: "Every single Tory promise to Scotland’s fishermen broken. Every Tory red line crossed.

But it is even worse than that."

NS: "For the key whitefish stocks that so much of the Scottish industry depends on, there will be fewer - fewer - fishing opportunities for Scotland under this deal than under the Common Fisheries Policy."

NS: "This must be the worst negotiating outcome in history – a hard Brexit for Scotland and a comprehensive sell-out of the Scottish fishing industry.

That's why the verdicts of fisherman are so damning."

NS: "The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations - fishing has been 'sacrificed'.

The Scottish White Fish Producers Association - 'deeply aggrieved.'

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation - the deal 'does not restore sovereign UK control over fisheries'."

NS: "The UK is, I quote them, 'now a coastal state with one hand tied behind our back'.

Utterly damning but utterly justified.

The fishing industry - misled by the Tories, sold out be the Tories all over again."

NS: "Betrayed by the Tories on the way into the EU, betrayed by the Tories on the way out."

NS: "And it's part of a pattern.

Not so long ago, Ruth Davidson declared that she would resign rather than support a differential deal for Northern Ireland."

NS: "Amazing what the offer of a place in the House of Lords can do to the merest whiff of a Ruth Davidson principle.

Adam Tomkins went even further."

NS: "'No Unionist', he said, 'could ever endorse' any sort of 'differentiated deal' for Northern Ireland.

But that’s exactly what this deal delivers."

NS: "A hard Brexit for Scotland and a special Single Market deal for Northern Ireland.

They are even dragging us out of Erasmus - a truly wonderful, horizon expanding scheme that gives our young people opportunities to live and learn across Europe."

NS: "Again, the Tories here told us that wouldn’t happen.

“Erasmus plus is something which all parties agree must continue post Brexit.” The words of Jackson Carlaw."

NS: "But the UK Government has now turned its back on Erasmus and sold out our young people.

And Jackson Carlaw? Not a peep.

I can only assume his ermine cloak is in the post."

NS: "The Scottish Tories are ignored by their Westminster bosses just like Scotland as a whole is.

And they lack the gumption or self respect to do anything about it.

They are Boris Johnson’s mouthpiece."

NS: "They will abandon any principle, break any promise, sell out any sector, just because Boris Johnson tells them to.

Today is conclusive proof of that."

NS: "In voting today, the SNP will stick by our principles, our values and our beliefs.

And we will stick by the people of Scotland, who have opposed Brexit at every turn."

NS: "We will not play the Westminster game.

We refuse to be complicit in a Boris Johnson-imposed democratic, social and economic calamity for Scotland."

NS: "The people of Scotland have been ignored throughout this whole Brexit fiasco.

Our views have been disregarded and our Parliament treated with contempt."

NS: "For Scotland, we know now that the Westminster system is broken beyond repair.

We deserve better than a dismal choice between a terrible deal and no deal."

NS: "We deserve the right to choose the best deal of all - a future as an independent, European country.

It is only through independence that we as a country will ever get to choose the future we want."

NS: "Independence - that is the deal that so many people in Scotland now want.

And we have the right to choose it.

I move the motion in my name."