division_name: Leaving the EU: Impact on the UK
motion: <p class="indent" pid="b392.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House considers that the immediate economic damage, recent uncertainty and the projected long-term damage to business and trade from the UK leaving the European Union has disproven the perceived benefits of leaving the European Union; notes that the Scottish economy, specifically fishing, small businesses and manufacturing, are particularly vulnerable to market disruption; further notes that the failure of the UK Government to remain in mutually beneficial education schemes such as Erasmus+ is to the detriment of education and cultural exchange for people in Scotland and the rest of the UK; shows serious concern at the loss of EU funding and its replacement with the Shared Prosperity Fund; affirms the positive role immigration plays in society; and regrets the impact leaving the EU will have on those who wish to live, study and work in the UK.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b392.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;a long-run loss of productivity of around 4 per cent compared with remaining in the EU.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b392.2/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;chokes UK exporters, but ushers in EU imports with open arms.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b392.2/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the fees charged part of this has indeed been very difficult to swallow, but it does not compare to the empty hollow feeling this particular Brexit experience has left me with. I cannot believe I will no longer be able to buy from the many really nice folk I&#8217;ve traded with over the years from various places across Europe. I cannot imagine the damage this must be doing to small retailers such as folks who run small independent record labels or who run specialist shops...I guess this list could go on and on and on.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b392.2/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;it is not acceptable to me if the outcome of our exit from the European Union means that we can no longer participate in the Erasmus+ programme. It is perfectly clear that the direction that the UK Government is taking means that we will continue to participate.&#8221;&#8212;[Scottish Parliament Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2021-05-16">16 May</phrase> 2018; c. 61.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b392.2/17" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;are meaningless if they&#8217;re not backed up with funding.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b394.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;most of us learned our languages in adolescence to adulthood, precisely thanks to EU links, we didn&#8217;t all grow up in multilingual households. I was brought up by a single mum in an English-only household in a mining town&#8212;how on earth could I ever have done what I&#8217;ve done, if not for Erasmus? It is not just heartbreaking but galling&#8212;sacrificing these things for the sake of unrealistic notions of imperial grandeur, the ultimate symbol of post-imperial stress disorder that Britain suffers from so acutely.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b394.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;You and everybody else coming through right now will not have the benefits that I had through Erasmus, work, study abroad&#8230;But am I going to sit here and say that Brexit is perfect and your generation is going to reap the benefits? No I&#8217;m not. Because you&#8217;re not frankly at the minute. And I can see that.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b397.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;welcomes the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and recognises the enormous opportunities for Scotland&#8217;s economy.&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b401.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there will be no non-tariff barriers&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b401.1/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This deal falls very far short of the commitments and promises that were made to the fishing industry by those at the highest level of government.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b403.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Independence for Scotland would represent a reckless &#8216;hold my beer&#8217; response to Brexit&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b410.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the priority of the Scottish people is to recover from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic, and that it would be irresponsible to hold a referendum at this time.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b412.3/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;cheaper for retailers to write off the cost of the goods than dealing with it all, either abandoning or potentially burning them.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b418.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there are many areas in which we can co-operate more effectively to safeguard our borders outside the European Union than we ever could inside.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2021-10-19">19 October</phrase> 2020; Vol. 682, c. 761.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b420.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Oh, you&#8217;ll never do that;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b420.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">At least, no one has ever done it;&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b420.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;started to sing as he tackled the thing</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="b420.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">That couldn&#8217;t be done,&#8221;</p>