AN SNP MP has written to the Complaints Department of the UK Statistics Authority urging them to correct Michael Gove’s “wholly misleading” tweet about Brexit.
Drew Hendry MP has slammed the Levelling Up Minister for claiming the UK had secured over £800 billion of “new” global trade since 2016.
This claim has since been confirmed as inaccurate by Full Fact – as reported by The National on Friday – given the figure mentioned includes existing trade under previous EU agreements and are therefore continuity deals rather than new Free Trade Agreements with additional trade.
The tweet came just one day after HMRC announced Brexit had reduced Scottish exports by £2.2bn (13%) over the past year.
Commenting, the SNP’s Shadow International Trade spokesperson, Drew Hendry MP, said: “Pro-Brexit politicians are known for misleading information, but this claim from Michael Gove is incredibly inaccurate and dangerous.
“Brexit has, and will continue to be, an unmitigated disaster for households and businesses across these islands – reducing Scottish exports by a staggering £2.2bn in the last year alone. Put simply, Brexit doesn’t work.
“It was false and inaccurate claims like these that convinced millions of people to vote in favour of leaving the European Union – rather than accurate facts about the consequences of leaving the world’s largest single market.
“For Scotland, re-joining the EU as an independent country would help boost trade and improve our economy as we would re-join a Single Market seven-times bigger than that of the UK’s.
“Ultimately though, what Brexit has shown is how threadbare the case for continued Westminster control has become.”
