Part of Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 12 Mehefin 2024.
The impact of Brexit has certainly been painfully felt by both exporters and importers, who have seen trade with the EU become overcomplicated and saddled with additional costs. That is thanks to the fact that there are now new barriers to trade; supply chains have been disrupted; and food prices have been driven up. In fact, a recent National Audit Office report estimated that UK traders will face additional costs of £469 million a year. We are gravely concerned about those burdens, and we urge the UK Government to pragmatically align standards with the EU in order to abolish some of those burdens.