‘It is good news for business, for jobs and for consumers’
Yesterday we introduced important legislation to protect and strengthen the UK internal market. It is good news for business, for jobs and for consumers. And, as we continue to tackle the threat posed by coronavirus, it will help the economic recovery that is now under way and that’s essential for our future.
Our internal market is the beating heart of our economy. It is particularly vital for Scotland, as 60 per cent of our exports are to the rest of the UK, worth £55 billion per year.
We’ve enjoyed centuries of seamless trade across the Border. Indeed, we are so used to our internal market and the advantages it brings we tend not to give it a second thought.
When our Transition Period with the EU ends on 31 December powers held for the past four decades in Brussels will return to the UK. They include scores of new powers in areas such as agriculture and the environment which, because they are devolved, will rightly flow to the Scottish Parliament.
MSPS will have more responsibilities than ever before, strengthening what is already one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world. However, this power surge creates a risk that rules and regulations will start to diverge across the UK in a way that makes it harder to trade, pushing up costs for business and consumers. Holding us back.
Our UK Internal Market Bill will ensure that doesn’t happen. We’ll continue to work with our counterparts in the administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast to agree Uk-wide standards covering almost all of the policy areas coming back from Brussels.
We want to work together and agree together. But the Bill will also create a safety net giving businesses the certainty they need after Eu-wide rules cease to apply.
We will guarantee that, where Common Frameworks do not exist, regulations from one part of the UK will be recognised across the whole country.
That means Scotland’s distillers would be assured of access to barley grown in other parts of the UK and oatcakes baked in West Lothian will continue to appear on supermarket shelves in the West Midlands.
The bill will also give the UK government powers to spend money Uk-wide, including in areas where Brussels currently directs EU budgets. As a result, we will be able to invest in infrastructure, economic development, culture, sport and international educational exchange schemes throughout Scotland.
At present the UK government channels hundreds of millions of pounds of research and development funding to Scotland’s world class universities.
The work they do is of UK, indeed global, importance and we are determined to support them.
The bill will also enable us to provide investment to delivery bodies for infrastructure projects. This could include upgrading the A75 – a road that links Northern Ireland to the north of England.
The bill will create exciting new opportunities to work with ministers in Edinburgh, as well as other partners throughout Scotland, to strengthen Scotland and the whole of the UK. It removes none of Holyrood’s existing powers so it’s win, win for devolution.
Leaving the EU restores significant powers and returns billions of pounds of funding, and we will ensure every corner of the UK benefits. Protecting and strengthening our UK internal market is essential for our future prosperity. No-one wants unnecessary trade barriers within the UK. That’s why we are backing business, supporting consumers, protecting our economy and strengthening the UK.
Alister Jack is Secretary of State for Scotland