Humza Yousaf: Future white paper will address independent Scotland border issue

Speaking at the SNP’s South Scotland Regional Assembly in Dumfries, Humza Yousaf told The National that a forthcoming independence paper on the issue of Scotland within the European Union will go into more details on the border.

It has previously been argued that there would be border issues between an independent Scotland in the EU and England following Brexit. 

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But, the FM insisted that Scotland would remain part of the Common Travel Area, in a similar vein to the Republic of Ireland, following independence.

He added that an upcoming whitepaper in the Building a New Scotland series would look at the issue in detail.

Earlier, Minister for Independence Jamie Hepburn told SNP members at The Bridge in Dumfries, that they would be given the tools to discuss the issue with voters on the doorstep, noting that it was a “prevailing” issue in the South of Scotland.

Hepburn added that members should “take no nonsense” from scaremongering about the border issue by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, adding that there would be no border guards or a hard border for goods.

Following Hepburn’s speech, the FM told The National: “Of course we'll address the issue of Scotland within the European Union and if the rest of the UK isn’t in the European Union.

“We are going to be part of the Common Travel Area, that’s no secret, you don’t need a paper for me to be able to say that with absolute positivity.

“In fairness, even those who completely oppose independence, even they don’t attempt to make a ridiculous argument that you wouldn’t be in the Common Travel Area.

“So that would allow people to be able to travel freely between all of those countries including the Republic of Ireland that are in the Common Travel Area.”

Earlier, Hepburn told the packed audience in Dumfries: “I’d like to assure you that in relation to that important issue, our prospectus papers to come, as we take them forward, will focus on that matter.”

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He added that Scotland would be part of the Common Travel Area and that it was not an “outlandish, extraordinary, or radical” idea.

“That’s the state of arrangements that the UK and Ireland have enjoyed for over a century,” he added.

“So take no nonsense from the fear-mongering that we hear from Mr Jack and others in the Conservative party about border guards and a hard border.

“It’ll be just as much in the interest of the United Kingdom, as it will be for Scotland to have a Common Travel Area.”

Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland region, told The National that the scaremongering mostly came from Jack.

She insisted that the border can be “pretty fluid” when it comes to checks on goods moving across it as it is all done digitally and electronically.

“We’ve got people that live in Ecclefechan and live in Carlisle, we’ve got people who live in Carlisle and work in NHS Dumfries and Galloway,” she said.

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“Other countries that have borders like Norway and Sweden, people cross the border every day.

“I think the scare mongering is something that we have to challenge people about and show them that there is no need to think that you're going to be stopped and have to show your passport to see your granny in Carlisle.”

We previously told how experts suggested that document checks on immigration status would not be required at the border of an independent Scotland.