Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2020
16 Dec 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Trade Arrangements (Post-Brexit)
Constitution, Europe and External Affairs
The cabinet secretary and I are in full agreement that the best thing for trade would not be Tory Brexit chaos; it would be—if we have Brexit at all—alignment with the customs union and the single market. At the same time, however, does the cabinet secretary recognise that, although we want to celebrate and take part in the EU single market, we also have to recognise the importance of the UK single market, whose value to Scotland is four times greater than that of the EU single market?
In the same item of business
5. Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Ind)
Ind
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on which post-Brexit trading arrangements between the United Kingdom and European Union would be best for...
The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs (Michael Russell)
SNP
The best arrangement for Scotland in trading with the EU is to do so as a member of the EU. Independence is therefore the answer to Michelle Ballantyne’s que...
Michelle Ballantyne
Ind
Although I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, the reality is that the democratic decision to resign the UK’s membership of the EU was supported by ...
Michael Russell
SNP
The number of people who voted non-Brexit parties into the Scottish Parliament in 2016 was far greater than the number who voted for Brexit parties. I am sor...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
The cabinet secretary and I are in full agreement that the best thing for trade would not be Tory Brexit chaos; it would be—if we have Brexit at all—alignmen...
Michael Russell
SNP
I know that Anas Sarwar is new to his portfolio, but there is no such thing as the UK single market. There is an internal market in the UK, but a “single mar...