Defend devolution from Brexit assault
Amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, you could be forgiven for forgetting about the next crisis that will hit families hard across my constituency.
The Brexit transition period is due to end on December 31 and the UK Government is showing absolutely no signs that it wants to extend this date to help our already stricken economy recover from coronavirus.
It remains hell-bent on advancing towards this next cliff edge in the Brexit negotiations, with recent news from Brussels suggesting that we are heading towards a no deal scenario in our future trading relationship with the EU.
The most insidious aspect of the end of the transition period is the UK Government’s plans for the use of powers that are returned from Brussels in order to protect the socalled ‘internal market.’
The proposal is that the UK Government will bring in new laws allowing it to set the rules for which products can be imported and sold in each part of the UK.
For example, all food sold in Scotland currently complies with EU regulations, which stops the likes of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef from reaching our supermarket shelves.
Even though day-to-day regulation of food standards is devolved, under these proposals Scotland will be forced to accept lower food standards in order to strike trade deals outside the EU.
The internal market proposals throw Scotland’s food producers under the bus and amount to a fullscale assault on the sovereignty of the Scottish Parliament.
Despite Scotland expressing its clear view to remain in the EU, we are getting a raw deal compared with
Northern Ireland, where imported goods that do not meet EU standards will not be allowed to be sold there, in order to preserve free movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The Chancellor is about to press ahead with winding down the furlough and self-employed income support schemes, whilst many sectors need more time and support to recover from COVID-19.
Add a no deal trading relationship with the EU into the mix, and you have a perfect storm which threatens to ruin livelihoods across Rutherglen and Cambuslang for years to come. It’s no wonder that more people are reaching the conclusion that we’re better off facing uncertainty with the powers of a normal independent country, taking the decisions we need to protect each other during the best and worst of times.