IAN Blackford says Westminster should “pay compensation to Scotland” over the Brexit business bourach – but the Cabinet Office claims it’s a matter for Douglas Ross.
In the first full week since the UK left the European Union, businesses have faced what Scotland’s leading seafood exporter called a “horror show” of disruption, with red tape tie-ups causing freight delays and consignment call-offs.
From January 1, food and drink businesses have had to apply for export health certificates (EHC) to send products of animal origin to the EU and Northern Ireland and supply forms to ensure transit. Incorrect paperwork has been blamed for holding up the flow of goods.
On Friday, Scotland’s Europe and External Affairs Secretary Michael Russell said the problems “are exactly the sorts of issues that Scottish ministers have been raising since the Brexit referendum” and Boris Johnson’s handling of EU withdrawal had made it “impossible for businesses to properly prepare”.
Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, is now calling on the Tories to apologies to Scottish firms and compensate the country with an “urgent multi-billion package” to ease the economic hit.
But when the Sunday National put that to Michael Gove’s Cabinet Office, the department told us to ask the Scottish Tories about it instead.
Trade rules are reserved to London, as were Brexit negotiations.
Despite being a representative of Johnson’s government, a Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “You’ll be best off getting a response from the Scottish Conservatives on this one – we will not be releasing a comment.”
The European Commission already announced a €5 billion Brexit mitigation fund to help traders and sectors in EU member states who are “suffering from the impact of the end of transition period.”
Blackford said: “It is completely unforgivable that Scotland is being forced to pay such a devastating high price for Boris Johnson’s extreme Tory Brexit deal, with mounting costs, red tape and disruption.”
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