Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal may have a “significant” impact on Scotland’s economy, leaked government documents have stated.
A Treasury dossier, published by the Labour Party yesterday, stated that Mr Johnson’s withdrawal agreement had the potential to “undermine the coherence of the UK” market and advised that “more research” was needed to understand its full impact north of the border.
Jeremy Corbyn said the papers presented “cold hard evidence” that the prime minister had been “deliberately misleading” the public about his Brexit deal.
The Labour leader brandished the dossier marked “official – sensitive” at a press conference on Friday.
He alleged the report proves there will be customs checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland after Brexit, something Mr Johnson has claimed would never happen.
The Tories said the documents did not back up Mr Corbyn’s “wild conspiracy theories” but did not specifically rule out the presence of a customs border in the Irish Sea under their deal.
On page nine of the document, it states that the Scottish Government had “expressed displeasure” over Mr Johnson’s deal and warned there could be a “significant effect on local economies in Scotland and Wales” if implemented.
Mr Corbyn said: “What we have here is a confidential report by Johnson’s own government, marked ‘official sensitive’, that exposes the falsehoods that Boris Johnson has been putting forward.”
“We have now caught Johnson red-handed misrepresenting his own Brexit deal.”
Banff and Buchan Tory candidate David Duguid dismissed the paper however, and said: “Every major business organisation in Scotland, including representatives of the fishing, farming and whisky sectors, has backed the deal that the prime minister has negotiated.
“On fishing alone, the SNP government’s own figures show that 5,000 jobs could be created and an extra £540 million generated for our economy.
“We can also secure a fairer funding deal for our farmers out of the CAP and boost our exports to new markets beyond the EU.”
