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Planes, trains and automobiles

October 23, 2017 by Michael Russell MSP No Comments | Category Brexit

For the last two weeks the Scottish Parliament has been in recess, which means there’s no parliamentary business. The same cannot be said for the world of Brexit negotiations.

I’ve been to Glasgow, London (twice) Brussels, Geneva and Zurich for a series of meetings, speeches and other engagements about Scotland’s future place in Europe.  This hectic schedule  started with a visit to Glasgow airport. I met with Managing Director Amanda McMillan to discuss the potential impact Brexit will have on the airport and airlines. It is clear the aviation industry in Scotland has real concerns – brought into sharp focus by the fact that they’ll shortly start selling tickets for the date at which we expect the UK to leave the EU.

We also published a new report, ‘Brexit:  What’s at Stake for Business’ which brings together views from a wide range of businesses – from food and drink companies and manufacturers to the football league which show the real issues that Brexit may cause for them. The common theme is that staying in the European Single Market and Customs Union is the best way to protect Scotland’s economic future.

After this is was a short flight down to London to give evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons about the EU Withdrawal Bill where – not for the first time – I made it clear that as the legislation stands we will not recommend the Scottish Parliament gives consent.

After  a couple of days spent on constituency business I found myself heading back to London the following week, via Brussels.    You may already have seen the news reports following the Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations (JMC(EN)), but it would be remiss of me not to mention it here as well.   The JMC  structure sees Ministers from the UK Government and the devolved governments get together on issues where co-operation is needed. This one – to discuss Brexit negotiations – was long overdue but I am pleased to be able to say it was a constructive meeting.

We managed to agree a set of principles that will be used to guide the negotiations on any UK Frameworks. What hasn’t changed is the Scottish Government’s resolute view that all devolved powers must come to Scotland with UK wide frameworks only on policy areas where we agree they are necessary – and then agreed jointly by all parties on an equal footing.   These are points I made clear at the meeting echoing the same views from my Welsh counterpart, Mark Drakeford.    Both of us also stressed that without that happening neither Parliament could agree to give the EU Withdrawal Bill legislative consent.

After a round of media interviews leaving the JMC, it was back to the Scottish Government  new offices in London – Scotland House. A short walk, partly through Embankment Gardens took me past one of my favourite statues in London – the poignant tribute to Sir Arthur Sullivan – before a couple of meetings followed by the Eurostar to Brussels.   As this was the afternoon of the severe storm that affected Ireland I was also amazed to see the sky darkening in London mid-afternoon as a result of dust and sand in the atmosphere,  creating colours I had never seen before.

I arrived in Brussels to the news that the Prime Minister and the head of the European Commission had agreed on the need for Brexit talks to accelerate in the coming months .  Whilst slightly sceptical about this – we had a similar agreement with the Prime Minister in January which led to nothing, it is important that a hard Brexit, let alone a “No dal” Brexit is taken off the table and single market transition , preferably permanent, agreed.

The next morning I was able to put the Scottish Government’s view – that we want to remain within the EU or at least within the Single Market and Customs Union – when I met with EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan and the European Parliament’s Brexit lead, Guy Verhofstadt. I then shared a platform at the European Policy Centre with the Welsh Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford where we both agreed on  the need to avoid a hard or no deal Brexit and both talked about the difficulties of working with the UK Government on these issues.

Before my final Government engagement in Zurich I headed to Geneva to meet with the head of the UK delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Head of the EU Delegation to the WTO, and the legal director of the WTO.  It was really helpful to get their perspective on how the various  Brexit scenarios relate to the global trade rules, something we need to understand as the UK moves towards negotiations with the EU27 on our future trade relationship.

Finally on board the train to Zurich heading towards my last engagement of the week ,  which was to deliver a Churchill Lecture at the Europa Institute at the University of Zurich,  I managed to take some time to appreciate the amazing autumnal scenery. Switzerland is truly breath-taking country and the warm autumn weather in Brussels, Geneva and Zurich – admittedly unusual –  was better than our summer.

It was a great pleasure to speak at such a distinguished university and institute and my thanks are due to all who were responsible and particularly Professor Ambühl, the former Swiss Foreign Office negotiator with the EU who gave me such a warm welcome.  Whilst the relationship between Switzerland with the EU is not one we are seeking  to replicate, given its complexity, there is much we can learn from a country of similar size.  We have much in common, whether it be unique musical instruments heroic Williams – Wallace and Tell – and world class tennis players in Murray and Federer.

A week of planes, trains and automobiles indeed, but  lots of work done to highlight the Scottish Governments position on our future in Europe and learn more about some of the key issues in the very complex subject that is Brexit.

This week’s focus promises to be more on the Scottish Parliament with evidence to a committee and not one, but two, Parliamentary debates.

Tags: Brexit, Brussels, customs union, EU Withdrawal Bill, JMC (EN), Michael Russell, Scottish Government, Single market

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