SNP would betray our fishermen to EU

as an exercise in hypocrisy, it was breathtaking even by the standards of the sNP.

the party’s Brexit Minister, Mike Russell, claimed scots tories are ‘embarrassed’ by their ‘abject failure to defend scottish fishing’.

He accused them of wanting every single decision of the scottish parliament to be ratified by the UK Government.

But he failed to mention that his own party’s policy is nothing less than complete subordination to the rule of the EU.

In the event of independence, scotland would attempt to rejoin the EU, meaning scottish fishing waters would be subject once more to Brussels quota-setting.

that Britain will not immediately regain control over fishing after Brexit is a source of understandable anger for fishermen.

Fish landings in scotland in 2016 increased in value by 29 per cent to a record high of £563million, illustrating the importance of the sector to our economy.

It is greatly to their credit that the scottish tories are prepared to challenge the Prime Minister in a way that Mr Russell and many of his colleagues would never dare to with their own leader.

Yesterday, theresa May insisted that Brexit will ultimately help to ‘rebuild our fishing industry’ as she attempted to curb growing unrest among many of her own MPs.

the reality is that, in the longer term, severing ties with the EU does indeed promise enormous dividends for the fishing industry in scotland.

By 2021, the UK will be negotiating fishing rights as an independent coastal state.

the intransigence of EU bureaucrats during complex negotiations means that short-term compromise is unavoidable.

But in the meantime, the sNP continues to exploit Brexit divisions to promote its own cynical agenda for scottish independence.