The SNP has renewed calls on the Tories and Labour to ditch their damaging hard Brexit plans – after a new report revealed Scottish families will be hammered with soaring price rises if Scotland is dragged out of the single market and customs union.
The report published this week, by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), reveals that post-Brexit price rises will squeeze incomes more in Scotland and Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK. Prices are expected to rise under any likely Brexit scenario – with a hard Brexit posing the biggest threat to living standards in Scotland.
The IPPR report concludes that the price of food and non-alcoholic drinks would likely rise by 5.3% under a hard Brexit, while the cost of transport is expected to rise by 7.7%. Expected rises in transport costs would contribute to a disproportionate impact on price rises on an average basket of goods and services in Scotland.
Mhairi Black MP, said:
“The Tories and Labour are yet again damaging Scotland. This report shows that the Hard Brexit that they are pushing through will mean we will see disproportionate prices on goods here in Scotland.
“Brexit is the biggest threat to Scotland’s economy and long-term prosperity. If the UK government drags us out of the single market and customs union, it will destroy thousands of jobs and hit the incomes, livelihoods and living standards of the people of Renfrewshire.
“Short of staying in the EU, as Scotland and Renfrewshire voted overwhelmingly for, remaining in the single market and customs union is the least damaging option – and the only way to protect our jobs and prosperity.”