Post-Brexit customs arrangement 'contradictory' and ‘embarrassing’ say Greens
The UK government’s proposed “new customs arrangement” announced today has come under fire from the Scottish Greens, with an MSP for the party calling the plans “contradictory to the point of being embarrassing”.
Ross Greer MSP, the Greens’ external affairs spokesperson also says the plan would leave the UK with a relationship with the EU that’s “weaker” than what Turkey currently has. The European Commission has already confirmed that the proposals are impossible, stating that “frictionless trade is not possible outside of the Single Market and customs union”.
Ross Greer MSP said:
“The UK government’s proposal, of a temporary customs union but refusing the authority of the Court of Justice which oversees the union, is contradictory to the point of being embarrassing. With these plans, the Tories are on the verge of giving us a relationship with the EU, our largest trading partner, that’s even weaker than what Turkey has.
“This ideological obsession with ‘closing the borders’ is preventing the Tories from seeing the obvious, that none of this will work without Single Market membership similar to the formal partnership that Norway has with the EU. This latest Brexit farce takes us a step closer to the harsh reality that leaving the European Union and Single Market will lead to 80,000 lost jobs and a £2,000 drop in average incomes in Scotland. That is the price of the Tories’ stupidity but it’s the rest of us who will be paying for it.”