EXTREME Brexiteers are happy for workers and consumers to take a hit as the Tories pursue a bottom -of-the-barrel trade deal, the SNP’s Shadow International Trade spokesperson has said.
Stewart Hosie was speaking after a United Nations report showed a hard Brexit could cost the UK £25 billion in lost exports to the European Union.
The report from the UN Conference on Trade, Investment and Development (Unctad) examined non-tariff measures (NTMs) and the impact on developing countries – and said that without such measures, or UK-EU agreements, exports to the bloc could fall by up to 14%.
It estimated potential losses from current exports under a No-Deal scenario at between £12.4bn and £16bn.
Scotland’s exports totalled £34.3bn last year, when the Netherlands remained our top destination (£4.3bn), with Germany (£2.8bn) and France (£1.7bn) among our top five export partners. More than half of Scottish exports went to EU member states.
Beverages are a key export for Scotland, worth more than £4bn and ranging from soft drinks from Irn Bru manufacturer A G Barr, to multinational whisky companies such as Diageo, which produces renowned brands such as Johnnie Walker, Bell’s and J&B.
READ MORE: Scotland could keep free movement after Brexit, experts say
The study from the Geneva-based agency also suggested that even in the event of a “standard” free trade agreement being agreed, UK exports could still fall by 9%, because Britain has already said it would diverge from EU regulations.
Hosie told The National a hard Brexit would harm our economy, put at risk thousands of jobs and damage our vital sectors.
“The Tory Government’s highest ambition is a basic trade deal which, compared with EU membership, could remove £9bn from the Scottish economy,” he said. “The findings from the UN study revealing that the UK risks losing up to 14% of its exports to the EU in the event of a No-Deal Brexit, and 9% under a ‘standard’ free trade agreement, is yet another reminder of the damaging impact any form of Brexit will have – while other assessments indicate the loss of trade might be even higher.
“People in Scotland did not vote for this and have the right to choose a better future as an independent member of the EU – which is seven times the size of the UK.”
Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Unctad’s director of international trade, said: “EU membership has its advantages to deal with non-tariff measures that even the most comprehensive agreement cannot replicate.
“This offers important lessons to other regions trying to deal more effectively with such non-tariff measures.”
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