Meeting of the Parliament 19 February 2025
I will come on to why the internal market act is being reviewed and why it is being retained. The Deputy First Minister is prejudging the responses to the review from people in Scotland. She is also the economy secretary, and we should all agree that economic growth is of utter importance. I hope that we would also all agree that it is paramount that the views of Scottish businesses are heard.
We know that, generally, businesses want to be able to confidently trade freely across the UK, that exports to the rest of the UK are worth nearly £50 billion and account for more than 60 per cent of all Scotland’s exports, and that businesses want regulatory alignment across the UK. We also know from the latest Scottish business monitor that 90 per cent of businesses raised political uncertainty as one of their major concerns.
The Deputy First Minister might like to think that she is the voice of business in the Government, but, if this debate is not performative, that rather begs the question why the Scottish Government is adopting its position before all Scottish businesses have had their say in the review. It is vital that businesses, consumers and other stakeholders here, in Scotland, and across the UK are listened to.