The SNP have slammed the Tories' Brexit “obsession” as the economic impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has been revealed by a new study.
The latest figures from the Centre for European Reform show that Boris Johnson’s Brexit strategy has cost the UK economy £31 billion.
A comparison showed that by the end of 2021 the UK economy was 5% smaller than it would have been if it remained in the EU.
This follows a report that the UK economy will grind to a halt next year with it expected to be the second-worst performing economy among the G20 – only bettering Russia’s which has been hit by trade sanctions amid its invasion of Ukraine.
With the cost of living crisis worsening and fuel prices skyrocketing, the SNP say that independence is the only way to save Scotland’s economy from being further impacted by Brexit.
The SNP’s Westminster Depute Leader, Kirsten Oswald MP, said: “There can be no doubt that the only way to protect Scotland from Westminster’s Brexit obsession is with independence.
“As the cost of living crisis continues to hammer households across all four nations, it has brought into sharp focus how Scotland also has a cost of living with Westminster crisis.
“The people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining within the European Union because they knew this outcome would follow – and yet we still have to suffer its fate. This is wrong and democratically unjustified.
“That is why independence is the only realistic route for Scotland to regain its EU membership and escape this toxic Westminster system for good.”
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon is looking to publish her government’s vision of what an independent Scotland would look like before the end of this parliamentary session on July 1.
The first paper of the “scene setter” blueprint could be published as early next week.
While details within the paper are yet unclear, many will expect the plan to reflect the SNP’s longstanding policy for Scotland to rejoin the EU after gaining independence.
This comes as the SNP have repeated their commitment to hold an independence referendum by the end of 2023.
