Farmers and fishermen face Brexit ‘ruin’

Sir,

In the House of Commons last week I accused the prime minister of viewing my hard-working Argyll and Bute constituents as simply ‘expendable’.

And I warned him that his ‘new’ plan for Brexit; the one in which Northern Ireland retains free and unfettered access to the European Single Market would leave Argyll and Bute’s farmers and shellfish producers facing financial ruin.

I know that for almost 40 years our shellfish producers and hill farmers have built up sophisticated trade links with the European Union, with our world-renowned seafood in particular, being taken from our seas and delivered fresh to some of the best restaurants right across Europe.

I know that any form of Brexit will be deeply damaging to Scotland but a Brexit deal in which Northern Ireland, just 12 miles across the water, will be given a massive competitive commercial advantage over Argyll and Bute food producers is completely unacceptable.

As I said to the Prime Minister, surely if this deal is good enough for Northern Ireland, it is good enough for Scotland. Sadly, however, he appeared uninterested in the fate of this already fragile rural economy, and refused to even consider the effect of this disastrous policy on our communities

With the true extent of the damage Brexit will cause here in Argyll and Bute becoming clearer every day, today I forwarded to Mr Johnson an e-mail I received from one west coast fisherman who wrote desperately seeking clarification on these new proposals, and who signed off his correspondence from ‘a soon-to-be-unemployed and bankrupt fisherman’.

This is the reality for too many people in Argyll and Bute but it is a reality the prime minister is not interested in. Brendan O’Hara MP, Argyll and Bute