Scottish Brexit secretary accuses UK government of pursuing ‘fantasy’

0 Mike Russell says the initiative lies with the EU Brexit Secretary Mike Russell said yesterday there is no prospect of the UK becoming a “glorious trading nation” after leaving the European Union.

But Mr Russell also said that if no deal is reached with the EU, the result would be “chaos” and accused the UK government of pursuing a “fantasy”.

The comments come after Prime Minister Theresa May said the initiative for negotiations now lay with the EU side, adding ‘’the ball is in their court’’.

Speaking to the BBC’S Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Russell said: “It sounds like Wimbledon rather than the serious negotiation it needs to be.

“It is the UK which has chosen to leave the EU, clearly they have to come up with the proposals for discussion. If they are refusing to come up with the proposals and now openly talking about not taking part in negotiation and walking, that’s a new degree of seriousness and it will cause enormous difficulty.

“This is a fantasy, they [the government] are pursuing a fantasy, there isn’t a good Brexit.

“It’s no secret we don’t agree with the policy, the policy was not voted for by Scotland.

“It is based upon a fantasy of the UK – some buccaneering, glorious trading nation – which just doesn’t exist and can’t exist, and it’s important to say that.”

A UK government spokesman said: “Since the Prime Minister’s speech in Florence, there has been a new, positive dynamic to the negotiations and we have made tangible progress on a number of vital areas.

“On trade, we want to continscotland’s ue working with the EU to promote the long-term economic development of our continent as we move forward.

“The British people have decided to be a global, freetrading nation.

“We want to maximise our trade opportunities by seeking a deep and special partnership with the EU and boosting our trade relationships around the world.”