Hansard

No. It is better that the Tories listen to the reality of their sell-out of fishing.

When it comes to the key white fish stocks that so much of the Scottish fishing industry depends on, there will be fewer fishing opportunities for Scotland under this deal than under the common fisheries policy.

This must be the worst negotiation outcome in history: a hard Brexit for Scotland and a comprehensive sell-out of the Scottish fishing industry. That is why the verdicts of fishermen are so damning. The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations said that “fishing has been sacrificed”, and the Scottish White Fish Producers Association is “deeply aggrieved”. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation said that

“the deal does not restore sovereign UK control over fisheries”

and that the UK is

“now a coastal state with one hand tied behind our back”.

The words are utterly damning but utterly justified.

The fishing industry has been misled and sold out by the Tories all over again. It was betrayed by the Tories on the way into the EU and it has been betrayed by them on the way out. That is part of a pattern. Not long ago, Ruth Davidson made it known that she would resign rather than support a differential deal for Northern Ireland. It is amazing what the offer of a place in the House of Lords can do to the merest whiff of a Ruth Davidson principle. I am not sure whether Adam Tomkins is in the chamber, but he went even further than that. He said:

“No unionist could ever endorse”

any sort of “differentiated deal” for Northern Ireland. However, that is what this deal delivers: a hard Brexit for Scotland and a special single market deal for Northern Ireland.

The Tories are even dragging us out of Erasmus, which is a truly wonderful, horizon-expanding scheme that gives young people opportunities to live and study in Europe. Again, the Scottish Tories told us that that would not happen. In the words of Jackson Carlaw,

“Erasmus+ is something which all parties agree must continue post Brexit.”

However, the UK Government has now turned its back on Erasmus and has sold out our young people, and there has not been a peep from Jackson Carlaw. I can only assume that his ermine cloak is in the post.

It is now clear that the Scottish Tories are ignored by their Westminster bosses—just as Scotland as a whole is ignored—and that they lack the gumption or self-respect to do anything about it. They are Boris Johnson’s mouthpiece. They will abandon any principle, break any promise and sell out any sector if Westminster and Boris Johnson tell them to do so. Today is conclusive proof of that. In contrast, we, in the SNP, will stick by our principles, values and beliefs. Most important, we will stick by the people of Scotland, who have opposed Brexit at every turn. We will not play the Westminster game. We refuse to be complicit in a Boris Johnson-imposed democratic, social and economic calamity for Scotland.

The people of Scotland have been ignored throughout the whole fiasco. Our views have been disregarded and our Parliament has been treated with contempt. For Scotland, we now know beyond doubt that the Westminster system is broken beyond repair. We deserve better than a dismal choice between a terrible deal and no deal. 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 will ever get to choose the future that we want. Independence—that is the deal that many people in Scotland now want. We will have the right to choose it.

I move,

That the Parliament notes the legislative consent memorandum on the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill lodged by the Scottish Government on 29 December 2020; considers that, while a no deal outcome must be avoided, the Future Relationship Agreements negotiated by the UK Government would cause severe damage to Scotland’s environmental, economic and social interests; regrets that, unless the UK Government follows the EU approach of provisional ratification, the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill will receive severely limited scrutiny in the UK Parliament, with very little time given to parliamentarians in the UK Parliament and devolved legislatures across the UK, failing to recognise the significance of the agreement and failing to respect the important role of the Scottish Parliament in scrutinising legislation requiring its legislative consent; therefore does not consent to the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill, and calls on the UK Government to seek a pause in current implementation while special arrangements are made to take account of these difficulties for Scotland and for the many others that will become apparent as the Bill is more fully considered.