Meeting of the Parliament 07 November 2024
The former UK Government slashed our capital, which meant that we could no longer take that proposal forward. I wrote a letter to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, outlining why that could not happen.
While it has been necessary to for me to recite the sheer litany of challenges that are still facing our rural communities, it is important to remember that there are very real people and real businesses behind all of the decisions that we make as Government ministers. We are in office to represent each and every one of those people and businesses. We cannot lose sight of that, and I, for one, will put my shoulder to the wheel to support them. I will be making a similar plea to my new UK Government counterpart ministers to do the same, including at our next interministerial meeting later this month.
However, the time for action is now, and the stakes could not be higher. With this debate coming hard on the heels of UK Government budget announcements last week signalling that there are yet more challenging times ahead, we are, in addition, poised to debate in the chamber next week progress on the trade and co-operation agreement, which set the foundational framework for Brexit. That debate should lay bare, in a more forensic way, the impacts of Brexit on business and trade.
We have said that we want to work more collaboratively with the new UK Government to deliver on shared ambitions for Scotland. Effective joint working now could very well unlock some answers to previous decisions that were taken at UK level, and which are still impacting on our rural communities today. There is no room for procrastination or complacency, with yet more challenging headwinds ahead.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises the ongoing harm caused by Brexit to Scotland’s rural economy, such as barriers to trade, loss of EU funding and post-Brexit labour shortages; acknowledges that these barriers have severely impacted Scotland’s world-class food and drink sector, which is of particular importance to Scotland’s rural and island communities, and calls on the UK Government to consider changes to the current Brexit arrangements that would address these barriers and impacts, including through the pursuit of a comprehensive veterinary agreement with the EU.