Chamber and committees

Emma Roddick was correct when she said that Brexit is not just a historic date that has happened, and that is it—“It is done; move on.” The impact is on-going. The cabinet secretary outlined that Scotland is paying a high price for a failing Brexit that Scotland did not vote for. As I said, the full economic consequences of exiting the EU are still to be realised eight years on from that June 2016 Brexit vote.

Today, however, I will focus my comments specifically on agriculture and the impact of Brexit on Dumfries and Galloway, on our standards and quality of food and drink and on our food security. Scotland’s rural economy is a major source of growth for Scotland. It delivered an economic contribution of more than £39 billion in gross value added, which is 26 per cent of the Scottish total, in 2021 alone.

The rural economy in Scotland is still bearing the brunt of Brexit because of the negative impact of the labour shortages on the food and drink industry. Indeed, in Dumfries and Galloway, I hear daily from farmers and employers in agritourism businesses and those in the food and drink sector about how they cannot recruit staff to keep their businesses floating. One prominent business restricted and reduced its opening hours, including during the peak summer season this summer, because it cannot find the right staff—any staff, I should say.

In Scotland as a whole, food and drink jobs alone equate to approximately 129,000 in 17,000 businesses, many of which are in rural areas with fragile economies, as in Dumfries and Galloway. There is absolutely no doubt that Brexit is a key cause of the struggles that the industry continues to face. Scotland could—here it comes, Presiding Officer—do better with the full powers that any normal independent country has at its disposal.

As I indicated earlier, Scotland is paying a high price for a failed Brexit that we did not vote for. The Brexit vote was eight years ago, and the full economic consequences of exiting the EU are still to be realised in the years to come. Just this week, the UK Treasury minister, Tulip Siddiq, said that 60 per cent of the impact of Brexit is yet to materialise. That is an astonishing percentage.

Research by the London School of Economics and Political Science centre for economic performance suggests that UK households have paid £7 billion to cover the cost of post-Brexit trade barriers to food imports from the EU. That has pushed up the average household food cost by £250 since December 2019 and has disproportionately impacted on low-income households, who spend a greater proportion of their income on food. The Tory-created cost of living crisis is exactly that—it was created by the Tories. Tory ideological party shenanigans have led to people in Scotland suffering.

Many Scottish food industries are suffering from lower volumes of exports to the EU, including a 59 per cent fall in fruit and vegetable exports and a 29 per cent fall in meat exports in the year ending March 2024, but that is not all. The research and development associated with food and drink and agriculture is also affected, with millions of pounds of EU funding now inaccessible to business.

I will again pick up on the matter of labour shortages, because that really does have an impact on us in Dumfries and Galloway. Migration is possibly the biggest challenge facing Scotland’s economy right now. It is unforgivable that every Westminster party is completely ignoring Scotland’s specific needs. The UK parties are too busy fighting for right-wing voters in England. UK migration policies are actively harming Scotland’s economic growth and prosperity, and a tailored migration system suited to Scotland’s specific circumstances is long overdue. A rural visa pilot scheme would mitigate the effect of labour shortages, it would facilitate routes for workers to come to Scotland and support our public services, and it would help businesses to reach their full potential.

During the general election campaign—

Will the member take an intervention?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work regarding the social isolation and loneliness strategy, particularly in relation to rural areas ahead of the winter months. (S6O-03894)

I understand what the minister is saying about mental health. Loneliness affects about one in eight people over the age of 65, and Dumfries and Galloway has one of the highest proportions of older people in Scotland, with about 33,000 people within that age bracket, which means that we have about 4,000 older people in the region who are struggling with the negative feelings that result from feeling lonely. Added to that in Dumfries and Galloway is the issue of rurality. Can the minister comment on whether its “A Connected Scotland” policy is likely to be updated with a specific focus on rurality?

I absolutely get what Mr Carson is speaking about regarding many of the things that he mentions. One thing that Scotland has done to address issues around rural GPs is the Scottish graduate entry medicine programme. Everybody forgets to big up ScotGEM, but it has been so successful for Dumfries and Galloway. Of course we have challenges with housing and so on, but today we are supposed to be focusing on the impact of Brexit. That is what we are focusing on today, eight years down the line.

Scotland could do better by making our choices for ourselves. The impact of Brexit on Scotland is disproportionately and negatively huge. I agree with the cabinet secretary’s motion, urging the UK Government to address the “barriers and impacts” caused by Brexit and to make the required changes to policy.

Good morning. I am not a fish expert. I have just looked at the UK Government website, which shows that there are 43 fisheries management plans and five current consultations about cockles, North Sea and Channel sprat, queen scallops, the southern North Sea skates and rays, and other demersal non-quota species. There are a lot of separate species in each fisheries management plan.

Are the fisheries management plans grouped together under demersal and pelagic and, if so, is that to help manage the plans, because similar species are in the same waters? There is also the issue of managing the plans so that it is not just individual species that are looked at.

Thanks—that is helpful.

Will the cabinet secretary outline what the economic impact of Brexit has been on Scotland’s fishing sector, according to the available data?

Professor White mentioned conscientious objection. I have had a constituent who is a health professional contact me about that.

I am interested in how the law in Victoria provides for the option of conscientious objection. There are issues around providing information and support or assessing a person for voluntary assisted dying, or even supplying medication—that would involve pharmacists and nurses, which is who I am thinking about. Will you say a bit more about how the law works in Victoria and elsewhere in relation to supporting persons who conscientiously object?

Professor White mentioned conscientious objection. I have had a constituent who is a health professional contact me about that.

I am interested in how the law in Victoria provides for the option of conscientious objection. There are issues around providing information and support or assessing a person for voluntary assisted dying, or even supplying medication—that would involve pharmacists and nurses, which is who I am thinking about. Will you say a bit more about how the law works in Victoria and elsewhere in relation to supporting persons who conscientiously object?