SCOTLAND WILL NOT BE IGNORED IN BREXIT DEAL

AS SCOTTISH Secretary, my job is to make sure that Scotland’s voice is heard loud and clear in Westminster, and that the interests of Scotland are taken into account when the UK Government takes decisions. As we form our negotiating strategy to leave the EU and forge a new role for ourselves in the world, that task has never been more important.

So over the weeks and months ahead, I will be out and about across Scotland, meeting people from a range of backgrounds – businesses, council leaders, farmers, oil and gas representatives, young people, service personnel – to engage in a direct conversation with them about what lies ahead. I have a clear objective – to listen to them. I want to hear their views, their concerns, and their priorities.

Leaving the EU will not be a brief or straightforward process. It is a big undertaking and is going to take a lot of hard work. With Theresa May as Prime Minister, we have the strong leadership Britain needs to face this complex task. The UK Government is putting the machinery of government four-square behind getting the best possible deal in the negotiations to come. By creating two new government departments – for International Trade and for Exiting the European Union – we have a strong team in place to do the job.

I am determined that Scottish voices and interests will be at the heart of that process.

The Prime Minister has been clear that we will work closely with the Scottish Government as we form our negotiating position. In early meetings with my new cabinet colleagues Liam Fox and David Davies, we discussed the importance of that close working. They share in the determination of the whole UK Government to deliver the best possible deal for all parts of our United Kingdom in the negotiations with the EU.

It will be a ‘Team UK’ approach, with Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish interests all taken into account. If the Scottish Government have their own suggestions to make, we will look at them very closely.

But be in no doubt – when the UK Government negotiates with Brussels, it will be on behalf of all our citizens – that is what being a United Kingdom means.

As the Prime Minister said on the steps of Downing Street on the day she took office, the Union between the four countries of the United Kingdom is a precious and enduring bond.

I am determined that the UK’s exit from the EU will do nothing to jeopardise Scotland’s strong place in the UK.

In 2014, people in Scotland made a clear choice to stay a part of the United Kingdom. The First Minister herself described it as a once in a lifetime vote, something she now seems to have forgotten. There were no caveats on the ballot paper in 2014 and the result was decisive. The UK Government respected that decision, and this year Parliament passed the Scotland Act 2016, delivering the Smith Commission Agreement in full and making Holyrood a powerhouse parliament.

The economic arguments for the UK are stronger now than they were in 2014, and the polls show support for maintaining Scotland’s place in the UK and opposition to a second independence vote.

Today we have to respect the result of the EU referendum. It would be wrong to do anything else. Scotland voted to remain in the UK and the UK has voted to leave the EU. We have had two major constitutional and democratic exercises and we need to respect the results of them both.

This is a time to come together – not to allow ourselves to be pulled apart.