The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Brexit minister plan amid £11bn-a-year losses claim
Nicola Sturgeon will unveil a Brexit minister within weeks after claiming leaving the EU could cost Scotland £11billion a year.
The first minister said the country faced a “potentially huge cost” after the vote to break with Brussels and suggested it was no longer the case that the UK provided a “safe harbour” for the Scottish economy.
She will create a new ministerial role to liaise with the UK Government on negotiations to leave the continental bloc.
But the SNP leader – who has indicated she could call another independence referendum to try to keep Scotland in the EU – was accused of “losing the plot completely” over claims the country could now be worse off in the UK than the EU.
The latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) publication is expected to show a high deficit as the economy struggles with low oil prices. Previous figures showed the Scottish Government was in deficit to the tune of £14.9billion. But publishing the Scottish Government’s estimates of the cost of Brexit, which is largely based on previously published analysis by the UK Treasury, Ms Sturgeon said: “The old argument that the UK somehow offers financial security for Scotland no longer holds water. Brexit will be deeply damaging to Scotland’s economy and to our Ms Sturgeon refused to be drawn on who she would appoint as Brexit minister – but said the position would be confirmed once Holyrood returned on September 5. According to the government paper, by 2030 Scottish GDP is projected to be between £1.7billion and £11.2bil- finances.” lion per year lower than it would have been without Brexit. Tax revenue is projected to be between £1.7billion and £3.7billion lower.
But opposition politicians said losses from leaving the UK would far outweigh those from leaving the EU.
Tory leader Ms Davidson said: “The first minister is in danger of losing the plot. Her own government’s figures will show tomorrow that Scotland benefits from a multibillion Union dividend. And yet, in order to revive her independence obsession, she is trying to pretend these facts don’t exist.”
Labour leader Kezia Dugdale queried why it had taken two months to produce an analysis of the economic impact of Brexit.
She added: “The publication of GERS figures will make clear the benefit that Scotland gets from the pooling and sharing of resources across the UK. It is completely and utterly misleading to suggest otherwise.
“Two mandates have to be respected – people voted in overwhelming numbers to maintain our relationship with both the EU and the UK. Delivering an outcome that achieves that is vital.”
The awaited GERS figures will be published later today.
“The first minister is in danger of losing the plot”