LONDON (Reuters) – The Scottish National Party (SNP), which is independent, on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson pay billions of pounds in compensation to Scotland for the rising costs and the disruption of Brexit.
Brexit has strained the ties that bind the UK: England and Wales have voted to leave, but London, Northern Ireland and Scotland have voted to stay.
The SNP, which wants independence from Scotland and is campaigning for a second referendum, said Scottish fishermen had faced serious disruption due to Brexit.
Johnson’s Conservatives “must apologize to Scottish businesses and pay compensation to Scotland for the long-term damage they inflict on our economy – which is costing us billions in food and growth,” said Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader in the British Parliament.
Blackford cites Brexit as an “unnecessary act of economic vandalism inflicted against the will of Scotland”.
“The British government must now provide an urgent compensation package of more than a billion to Scotland to reduce the lasting Brexit damage to Scottish businesses, industries and communities,” he said.
Many Scottish fishermen have stopped exporting to European Union markets after the post-Brexit bureaucracy shattered the system that used to place aphids and scallops in French shops just over a day after harvest.
Fishermen across Britain have accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of treason after he had previously promised to take control of British waters again. With little new control and little access to customer markets, is very desperate.
Scots voted 55-45 percent against independence during a referendum in 2014, but Brexit and the British government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis has boosted support for secession.
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, Scotland voted 62-38 to stay in the European Union, while the UK as a whole voted 52-48 to leave.
(Reported by Guy Faulconbridge; edited by Michael Holden)