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As the prospect of leaving the EU without a deal looms, Brexit has been described as an unforgivable act of economic sabotage.’
Scottish Constitution Secretary Mike Russell urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson during crunch talks on Sunday to ensure a no-deal Brexit is “taken off the table” but described even leaving with an agreement as “massively damaging.”
The Prime Minister has repeatedly referred to the prospect of a no-deal in recent days, saying it is very very likely” and asking individuals to prepare for a “Australia-style solution.”
The Secretary of the Constitution, who has been in office throughout the Brexit negotiations and has repeatedly railed against the process over the past four years, said there would be a detrimental impact on jobs and the economy, regardless of the outcome of the crunch talks this weekend.
“Mr. Russell said The decision of Boris Johnson to end the Brexit transition period in the midst of a pandemic and a deep recession is an unforgivable act of economic sabotage on the economy of Scotland.
In less than three weeks’ time, the deal the Prime Minister says he wants will involve major trade barriers and remove Scotland from the European Single Market, which by population is seven times the size of the UK.
That is going to be massively damaging, but a no-deal Brexit will be even worse. That is simply unthinkable, and before Boris Johnson tips Scotland over the sharpest of cliff-edges, it must be removed from the table today.
This week the Scottish government put its emergency resilience apparatus in place and announced plans to stockpile about 60 critical medicines to ensure that post-Brexit supplies do not run out.
Mr. Russell added: “In order to keep people safe, the Scottish Government is devoting enormous efforts and resources to tackling the Covid-19 crisis.”
It is outrageous that we also have to deal with the disruption of Brexit and the looming disaster of a no-deal or low-deal outcome at this time.
“We are doing everything we can to prepare, to ensure that essential medicines are available and that companies are helped to cope with this unnecessary storm, but sadly we are not going to be able to mitigate all the damage.”
