Brexit Britain hammering Scotland’s agricultural sector.
The SNP has said that Scotland’s farmers and crofters have been “hung out to dry” by the Tories’ post-Brexit trade deal with Australia – following the UK government’s own impact assessment which show that British agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors are set to suffer a £94million loss.
The assessment makes clear that the deal could “result in lower output for some agricultural sectors [in the UK]”, thus potentially undercutting Scotland’s food producers.
The deal is also expected to have a £225million hit to the semi-processed food sector due to a “reallocation of resources within the economy”.
This follows a previous UK government impact assessment which confirmed that no protection would be offered to maintain the high animal welfare and environmental standards the UK currently follows, despite repeated warnings from the Scottish Government.
Commenting, the SNP’s Deputy Shadow International Trade Secretary Anum Quisar (pictured) said:
“Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster for Scotland’s economy, its businesses, and its people.
“Across these islands, people are feeling the devastating impact of a pandemic, Brexit, and a cost-of-living crisis all at once – none more so than Scotland’s farmers and crofters.
“Beyond all the fancy rhetoric about how Brexit will benefit the people of Scotland, the UK government’s own assessment makes clear that this trade deal with Australia will cost the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors massive sums of money.
“Yet again, they have been left hung out to dry by a cruel, outdated, incompetent Westminster system.
“Scotland is not safe under Westminster control.
“Only with independence can Scotland avoid the long-term damage of Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit deal and re-join the EU.”
