Scottish Brexit: Scotland ‘losing £3bn in government revenue a year’

To mark the seventh anniversary of the referendum on UK membership of the European Union, she has published a new paper setting out the consequences of the vote.

While almost two-thirds of Scots voted to remain in the EU, the UK narrowly voted to leave overall.

The Scottish Government paper claims that leaving the European Union is not only responsible for the loss of public revenue but is also responsible for around a third of the “running” food price inflation currently being experienced in the UK.

READ MORE: Kate Forbes – The Tories think the Scots are stupid with their dog’s dinner Brexit

More than two-fifths (44%) of Scottish businesses now cite Brexit as the main cause of trade difficulties with overseas customers.

Around 45% of tourism businesses in the Highlands and Islands are facing staff shortages as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU, the newspaper said.

Constitutional Secretary Angus Robertson also pointed to the “hundreds of millions of pounds” of European funding that has been lost to Scotland’s rural and research sectors.

Mr Robertson said: “Seven years after the people of Scotland gave a strong opposition to Brexit, the Scottish Government has published a paper highlighting the damage it has done.”

“Brexit means Scotland has now left the largest single market in the world and no longer enjoys free movement, leading to labor shortages across the NHS, in agriculture and in our hospitality sector.

“Consumers and businesses continue to face a cost of living crisis caused by rampant food inflation as produce rots in the ground and crippling trade barriers making it difficult to import and export goods from the EU.

“Scotland’s rural and research sectors have lost hundreds of millions of pounds worth of EU funding that the UK Government was unable to match.

READ MORE: Ian McConnell – Rees-Mogg stuns as he attacks ‘enemy of Brexit’

“A generation of young Scots have been denied life-changing exchange opportunities to study abroad.

“While we will continue to do what we can to mitigate this damage through our long-standing relationships with our European neighbours, the fact remains that the only way to meaningfully reverse this damage and restore the benefits Scotland previously had is by that an independent Scotland rejoin the European Union.”