In response to a letter the Scottish Government had received on 26 March on this issue, Shona Robison MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, wrote a letter to Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 28 March 2024 in which she stated:
At the most basic level, some of the arguments set out in the letter of 26 March are simply illogical: is it really the UK Government’s position that a product already subject to a ban on its use and possession cannot also be banned from sale due to the “need to avoid barriers to trade wherever possible”?