Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 30 December 2020
The European Union is made up of independent nations.
The Liberal position is this: they know how damaging and devastating Brexit is for Scotland, but they think that we should just put up with it rather than choose a better future for ourselves. We have no truck with that. Scotland can and should aspire to be an equal independent country, and that is what Scotland is on the path to becoming.
Sixty-two per cent of people in Scotland voted to stay in the European Union. In not one but two subsequent United Kingdom general elections, pro-EU parties got an overwhelming majority of votes in Scotland. Those votes reflect the economic and practical benefits that EU membership has brought to our country, but they also reflect something more fundamental: by and large, and for all its imperfections, people in Scotland support what the EU represents. Its fundamental principle that independent nations should share sovereignty for the common good is one that most people support. Its values—of democracy, equality, solidarity, the rule of law, and respect for human rights—are ones that we share.
Throughout the whole Brexit process, we have all seen—and I suspect that most people will long remember—the stark contrast between the EU’s solidarity with Ireland and the UK Government’s utter contempt for Scotland and her people.
The fact is that no Brexit settlement would ever fulfil the wishes of people in Scotland. However, there were outcomes that would have protected our interests better than this one. Back in December 2016, the Scottish Government published a plan for compromise. We recognised, reluctantly, that the UK would leave the EU, and we proposed staying in the single market and customs union. It was the obvious compromise position, but the UK Government dismissed it out of hand. It disregarded Scotland’s views, values and interests, and it has now agreed a deal that is disastrous for Scotland and that puts barriers in the way of Scotland’s exports.
The Tories are trumpeting—pun intended—the fact that the deal delivers zero tariffs, as if we are all meant to suddenly forget that there were already no tariffs. However, to avoid tariffs in the future, businesses will now need to meet a whole host of complex regulatory requirements. The estimated cost of all that to business in the UK is £7 billion every year. Service providers could now face different restrictions in each EU country. The finance sector—almost 10 per cent of Scotland’s economy—is still completely in the dark about what will replace the all-important passport.
Ordinary people will pay a price even for simple family holidays through, for example, new health insurance requirements, roaming charges for mobile phones and more time-consuming queues at airports. There are consequences, too, for our justice system. Our police will no longer have real-time immediate access to alerts from EU partners on wanted or missing persons.
As well as making us less safe, this deal also makes us less free. The right to work, study and live across an entire continent is being taken away. It will also be far more difficult for us to attract workers from other EU countries. One of our key challenges as a country—our ageing and, potentially, shrinking population—has just been made even worse.
Those costs and harms—for that is what they are—are real, and they will start taking effect in just two days’ time. They will cost jobs and they will reduce prosperity in Scotland. The benefits—