POLITICAL PARTY SINN Féin have clarified that they won’t take their seats at Westminster parliament, following comments by the North’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness that left things a little unclear.
The party’s policy of abstentionism, or refusing to take their seats in parliament, has been used by Sinn Féin as a form of political protest against the British government and against the oath of allegiance to the royal family.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that McGuinness declined to rule out that the party’s MPs would attend Westminster to vote against Brexit, telling a Stormont press conference:
Who knows where all of this is going to end up? There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that all of us face immense challenges that lie ahead.
McGuinness added that there was a lot of uncertainty around the future, and that Sinn Féin’s four MPs “were opposed to Brexit”.
A spokesperson for Sinn Féin denied the party’s long-held policy towards Westminster would change, issuing the following statement:
Sinn Féin MPs will not be taking their seats at Westminster as they stood on an abstentionist platform and are therefore mandated not to attend.
We have no intention of reviewing that position.
Although the overall result of the UK referendum saw 52% vote to leave the European Union, the majority result in Northern Ireland was to remain – creating a split within the Union over whether they should leave, and a scramble for loopholes.
Yesterday, London’s High Court ruled that only parliament alone, and not the sitting government, can instigate the process to extricate Britain from the EU – a decision which could slow down the whole process of Brexit.
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