The SNP has accused both Labour and the Tories of an “insidious Westminster conspiracy of silence” over the deepening damage Brexit is causing to the economy and blighting the lives of ordinary people.
At 11pm on Tuesday, it will be exactly three years since the UK left the European Union.
Despite Vote Leave promises that Brexit would herald a new era of prosperity for all, not a single Brexit benefit has been identified while the long-term damage to the Scottish and UK economy deepens by the day.
Ahead of the anniversary, SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown said:
“People in Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU and it’s nigh on impossible to overestimate how disastrous Brexit has been.
“Its toxic effects are evident everywhere you look – from lost jobs and livelihoods, staff shortages in hospitality and the health and care sectors, and billions of pounds of lost tax revenue that could have been used to boost public services like the NHS.
“But you will never hear that from either the Tories or Labour.
“Both parties are complicit in an insidious Westminster conspiracy of silence, with Labour now a fully paid up member of the hard Brexit club, committed to keeping Scotland out of both the EU and the world’s biggest single market.
“The Tories can’t admit Brexit will never work because they inflicted it on us.
“And Labour won’t admit it because of a mis-placed electoral calculation which ignores the wishes and interests of the people of Scotland.
“Instead of accepting that Brexit has failed and taking the necessary steps to put right this grave act of national self-harm, both parties are negligent in denying reality.
“Failing to accept that Brexit will never work will only accelerate Britain’s decline.
“While the Westminster parties continue to indulge in this unforgivable conspiracy of silence for purely selfish reasons, Scotland has a choice.
“We can escape the unending downward spiral inflicted on us by Westminster control and re-join the European Union as a normal independent country.”
