THE UK public should be worried about a “no-deals” Brexit as well a no-deal Brexit, an SNP MSP has said.
Joan McAlpine spoke out after a Whitehall leak suggested the UK Government has failed to finalise most of the trade deals needed to replace the EU’s 40 existing agreements with leading global economies – and will not be close to doing so when Brexit is due to occur in March.
In 2017 Liam Fox, the Tory government’s Secretary of State for International Trade, confidently declared that trade deals would be finalised “one second” after Brexit. He also said that coming to a trade agreement with the EU would be “the easiest in history”.
But reports in the Financial Times said that, two years later, almost none of the 40 trade deals needed to replace existing agreements with the EU have been finalised, adding to economic risks the UK will face if it leaves the EU with no deal.
South of Scotland MSP McAlpine said: “Once again, the Westminster Government has failed to keep promises made to voters – and the entire justification for Brexit is left in tatters. The UK is not just hurtling towards a no-deal Brexit, we’re facing a ‘no-deals’ Brexit.
“The Tories think they can do whatever they want to Scotland and get away with it – they are taking us out of the world’s biggest single market, which is eight times bigger than the UK alone, and putting nothing in its place.
“Scotland didn’t vote for Brexit – and it is becoming clearer with every day that passes that our vital interests would be far better protected by being an independent country.”
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