Scottish government highlights financial impact of Brexit on salmon sector

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has condemned Westminster for hampering the salmon sector and other exporting businesses with “layers of additional paperwork and lack of clarity.”

Following the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum, the value of pound sterling fell by 12%, which led to higher inflation from the higher price of imports, the SNP states, adding that it impacts Scotland particularly, as it has a negative trade balance in goods.

From Aberdeen to Ayrshire, businesses from all over Scotland have been getting in touch with SNP MPs to illustrate the damage that Brexit has caused to them, the governing party in Scotland stated.

Brexit “has resulted in added costs, time, and more than likely, the demise of a number of small businesses who do not have the resources to deal with this added pressure,” the SNP quoted a salmon business in Brechin as saying.

“We had a free trade deal with Europe that has now been destroyed – and along with it, the UK economy and a huge amount of import/export businesses,” the salmon business added.

The party highlighted how inflation alone has increased the cost of living in the UK by £870 per year, combined with OECD figures showing that the UK is headed for the lowest growth in the G20, expect Russia, exacerbating the issue for employees and businesses.

Reflecting the warning from the UK’s own financial body, the OBR, the SNP stated how the long-term damage of Brexit will be twice as bad as the economic damage caused by the Covid pandemic.

 

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