Willie Rennie - Column

It isn’t hard to see the impact which Brexit has had. In North East Fife there is the example of a small business that used to trade small volumes of its product to Europe, sometimes on a trial basis with new customers. That part of the business is now stone dead. Given the expertise that is required and the time required to navigate the complicated process, there is little point in it going through the whole process of understanding all the regulatory changes and the costs that are involved for a small product when it may not result in a bigger volume of trade, so it does not do that any more.I know that people are reluctant to reopen the discussion. I knocked on thousands of doors during the election and the issue only occasionally came up, especially when compared to the cost of living, access to GPs and NHS dentistry. I think people want us to work gradually to repair, build confidence, deepen the relationship and, ultimately, aim for single market membership. However, that has to be done pragmatically.I am pleased about the tone that the Labour government has set in proposing a reset with the EU, because that will start to seep through to the European institutions so that they understand that there is a willingness on this side of the Channel to renew the relationship. To be fair to Rishi Sunak, I think that the Windsor agreement was a step in the right direction, particularly as regards trying to settle the arrangements in Northern Ireland.

Both governments, after the deep damage was caused, have recognised that the political will needs to be in place for all the important measures to be implemented effectively. The veterinary agreement must be first on the list. It is probably the single most valuable thing that we can do to make a big difference for trade in agriculture products but it is important that Liberal Democrat MPs are pushing them to go further, including by negotiating a youth mobility scheme.

The SNP government has promises to live up to as well. They said that they would create a Scottish replacement for Erasmus. We know it can be done because it was done in Wales, but years on the Scottish Government has shelved the plans. That is a big let-down for young people and it shows the importance of practical action and hard work, not just political rhetoric.