Thank you very much, convener, and thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee again. I do not know whether this will be true, but this may well be my last appearance at the committee in the current session; indeed, as I am not standing for election again, it may well be my final appearance of any session. Thank you for having me here on this occasion.
I do not think that anything I have to say will be a great surprise to anybody, as I have been appearing at the committee regularly over the past few years. The Brexit deal that was agreed by the United Kingdom Government is a bad deal. It will remove Scotland from the European single market and the customs union against our will, hitting jobs and the economy at the worst possible time. The post-Brexit relationship with the European Union could have taken any number of different forms, but the one that it has taken is very nearly the worst form. It was the result of a conscious political choice by the UK Government that was taken, as I said, firmly against the wishes of Scotland.
Of course, leaving the EU fundamentally changes the UK as a state. With the UK shorn of the EU’s negotiating power and expertise, it will shine a spotlight on the inadequacies of the intergovernmental arrangements that exist within these islands. My preferred solution is well known to the committee, but even if that solution is not favoured by all members of the committee, there can be no doubt that there require to be fundamental changes in the structure of devolution. Regrettably, the UK Government does not seem to understand that, but instead appears to be keen to diminish devolution to further centralise control.
Significant changes will be required, for example, in the area of international treaties, because there are areas of devolved competence that are actively being discussed with others as the basis of those trade treaties. It is important that the Scottish Government is heard as the UK Government develops international ambitions so that we are not simply dragged along in a series of what you might call strategic imperialist visions, but that thought is given to our position as a small country in Europe. We need robust governance structures that include dispute resolution mechanisms so that we know with confidence how we can do business. There is also a range of other issues that require recognising, including the very important issue of alignment with EU priorities and regulations.
The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 pushed that whole issue in the wrong direction. It was an assault on devolution, and it makes it difficult to see how we can get the type of agreement that we wish to have. The work that should be going on to produce a new intergovernmental review has by and large stalled, with the UK Government not willing to move on the key issues that still require resolution.
Those are all matters that I am happy to talk about and to discuss. There are issues with the frameworks, of course, that can also be considered, but I hope that that gives an indication, at least, of where I am coming from. As I said, my position will not be a great surprise to members of the committee, but I am happy to discuss it with them.