‘We’ll need customs posts at the Border’

AN independent Scotland would need to build customs barriers at the Border with England if it joined the EU, a former SNP minister has warned.

Former health secretary Alex Neil has urged Nicola Sturgeon to be ‘honest’ about the consequences of European Union membership.

Speaking only days after announcing he will stand down as an MSP next year, Mr Neil said the customs post move would not be popular with voters.

His comments clash with Nicola Sturgeon’s

vision for Scottish independence. The First Minister insists that she would seek to re-enter the EU if successful in breaking up the UK. Official SNP policy on an independent Scotland following Brexit is also to seek re-entry to the EU.

This is despite concerns around the use of the euro, the hated common fisheries policy and the impact on the UK internal market, which is worth more than £50billion to Scotland’s economy. Mr Neil said joining the bloc as a new independent state would mean separate regulations and barriers to trade within Britain.

Speaking to ITV Border, Mr Neil said: ‘If Scotland was in a customs union, ie the EU, and the rest of the UK was out of the customs union, by definition there are going to be customs barriers at the Border between us and the rest of the UK.

‘And I don’t believe people in another independence referendum will vote for that. There is a better alternative and that is for an independent Scotland to join the European Free Trade Association. That gives us free trade with the entirety of Europe, not just those in the EU but the entirety of Europe, through what’s called the European Economic Area without the downside of being in a customs union or many other downsides on fishing and other things in relation to EU membership.’

An SNP spokesman said: ‘The overwhelming majority of people in Scotland oppose Brexit. And we believe that the best way to build a more prosperous and equal Scotland is to be a full independent member of the EU.’