UK border measures could see firms leave

Industry experts have told MSPS that border controls in the event of a so-called “hard Brexit” would make tourists and businesses “feel unwelcome”.

Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald asked a panel of industry leaders giving evidence to a Scottish Parliament committee if there is an acceptable alternative to the European Union rule of free movement of citizens within the bloc.

He said: “The UK government seems very unsympathetic to business and to all the other arguments in favour of freedom of movement.

“If the UK government doesnotreflectwhatyou’ve all said and what many other witnesses have said about freedom of movement being critical going forward, is there a second best, is there another outcome that UK ministers might show some evidence of being interested in that would protect the vital interests that your sectors have in relation to freedom of movement?

“Or is it simply the case that if the UK government turns its back on the free movement then the game’s a bogey as far as the economy is concerned?”

Edinburgh University professor Gordon Masterton, former president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, said it is “difficult to think of a second best” and he warned business may go elsewhere.