The Tories have been blasted for “sheer complacency” when it comes to the Brexit delays which are putting Scotland’s seafood export industry at risk - after a senior Tory disregarded industry concerns and attempted to shift the blame for the Tories’ Brexit chaos.
In an interview with the BBC, Scotland Office Minister David Duguid was asked how long it will take to fix supply chain problems caused by Brexit. He responded “how long is a piece of string?”
Jamie McMillan, Managing Director of Loch Fyne Langoustines, told the Good Morning Scotland programme that small Scottish seafood companies are being put out of business by Brexit delays.
He asked Tory MPs to “stop lying” to the Scottish fishing industry, which he said was “dismayed” about being “led down the garden path” by Boris Johnson.
Yesterday the Tory government's Fisheries Minister faced calls to resign after admitting that she had not fully read the details of the damaging Brexit deal on fisheries because she was “very busy organising the local Nativity trail”.
SNP candidate for Banffshire & Buchan Coast, Karen Adam, said:
“Despite claiming that there would be a ‘sea of opportunity’ when it came to our fishing and seafood sectors, UK Tory Ministers have now washed their hands of all responsibility, showing sheer complacency about the threat to one of our most successful industries.
“The Tories told lie after lie about what would happen when we left the EU. Instead, what we have is chaos, poor preparation, systems that don’t work and businesses being left to fend for themselves - and a UK Fisheries Minister who astonishingly admitted she had not even read the damaging Brexit deal because she was busy organising a Nativity trail.
"It’s a disgrace that the Tories think they can just walk away and tell Scotland’s food, drink, seafood and farming industries that they’ll just have to suck it up.
“Boris Johnson and his band of Brexiteers simply can’t be trusted when it comes to standing up for Scottish interests. The only way to protect our economy and industry is to become an independent country within the EU.”
