Giving little for big gain
EU integral to future issues
On Thursday, we have a big choice to make as EU membership matters to every one of us in Scotland.
There is a need for collaboration on matters that do not respect national borders.
We cede a little sovereignty in order to deliver long-term peace and prosperity for 500 million citizens.
The way I see it is we give a little to gain a lot.
The EU is the home of the worlds’ largest single market.
It allows our businesses unfettered access to half a billion consumers and Scotland makes the most of this with 45 per cent of our exports going to the EU.
Over 300,000 Scottish jobs are linked to this.
Social progress has been secured and guards us against a race to the bottom.
Rights which we all we take for granted - such as paid holidays, equal treatment for part- time employees, maternity leave and protection from workplace discrimination - are all the result of EU action.
And we continue to build on this by campaigning for a ban on workplace zero hours contracts.
The EU have also given us some of the most comprehensive consumer rights in the world; helped clean up Britain’s air, rivers and beaches; protected our wildlife and habitats; improved intelligence sharing to assist in the fight against organised crime and terrorism and has allowed our people to work, study, travel and live in any EU state.
While the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy ensures Scotland’s farms are viable and our farmland is productive and the EU’s development aid has transformed millions of lives across the globe.
The EU are integral to how we face the challenges of the future.
We only have one chance to save our membership of the EU and all that it brings us.
I hope the people of Scotland will help us remain part of it on June 23.