Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will attack the Tories for their approach to Brexit on a visit to the Western Isles today.
Business leaders and economists have been warning of the dangers of a hard Brexit on the north Scottish economy, with many island communities reliant on EU subsidies and Aberdeen set to be the worst affected city economy in the UK.
Mr Corbyn says retaining access to the EU single market was particularly vital for the north of Scotland in the negotiations.
He said: “The Tories’ race-to-the-bottom approach to Brexit will make life harder for communities across Scotland – including the Highlands and Islands.
“A Labour government would deliver a ‘jobs first’ Brexit deal that would seek full, tariff-free access to the single market.
“This will secure and improve workers’, environmental, social and consumer rights and protections, which are so vital to people across the north of Scotland and the whole of the UK.”
The Labour leader is kicking off his Scottish campaign tour in Stornoway today before visiting Glasgow, Coatbridge, Kirkaldy and Musselburgh.
His visit to the Western Isles, where Labour cut the SNP majority in to just over 1,000 votes in May’s election, is intended to symbolise how no community will be left behind by a Labour government.
Mr Corbyn will meet staff at Harris Tweed Hebrides, local community groups and businesses before addressing a town hall rally in Stornoway tonight.
He will highlight Labour’s plan to ‘rural-proof’ policies in government, so that all laws are assessed on their impact on rural communities.
But Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil, SNP, said Mr Corbyn stance on Brexit was unclear and did not go far enough to protect communities like his own.
Mr MacNeil said the Labour leader was backing Theresa May’s plan to leave both the single market and the customs union.
He said: “The view of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party is the same as Theresa May and the Tories – that the UK should leave the single market and pursue a Brexit deal without membership – a view contrary to the majority of businesses asked in a recent HIE commissioned survey.
“The SNP, unlike Labour, is standing up for businesses and the wider community and will continue to press for the devolved administrations to be represented in the Brexit negotiations.”
