Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 September 2020
16 Sep 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Brexit (Impact on Fisheries)
Constitution, Europe and External Affairs
Liam McArthur makes a good point. Of course, Ben Macpherson, who has been dealing with migration issues, said last week that he is finding it impossible to get a discussion or a meeting with UK ministers. That is the reality of how the UK treats Scottish interests in such matters.
Liam McArthur is also right to reflect on the fact that it does not matter how much fish we can catch if we cannot process it, sell it or get it to market: it becomes irrelevant. What he described is typical of the short-term thinking of Brexiteers—in particular, the Brexiteers who run the UK and Scottish Conservative parties.
In the same item of business
2. Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
To ask the Scottish Government what talks it has had with the European Union regarding the potential impact of Brexit on Scotland’s fisheries. (S5O-04590)
The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs (Michael Russell)
SNP
Scottish ministers and officials meet their EU counterparts regularly to promote Scottish fishing interests and other priorities and, in line with the democr...
Michelle Ballantyne
Con
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has said that negotiating with the EU for anything other than the UK being a fully independent coastal state would be a “...
Michael Russell
SNP
I am not negotiating with the EU. Every discussion that I ever have, or which the First Minister and others have, is predicated on that. However, to hear a T...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
As the cabinet secretary will be aware, Brexit poses a real threat to the ability of the catching and the processing sectors to recruit the workers whom they...
Michael Russell
SNP
Liam McArthur makes a good point. Of course, Ben Macpherson, who has been dealing with migration issues, said last week that he is finding it impossible to g...