BREXIT is making the cost-of-living crisis “worse” and is contributing to the soaring bills and rising inflation hitting Scottish families, a senior MP has warned.
Pete Wishart said even Conservatives were now admitting their party’s hard Brexit was punishing households across the country.
It comes after former Tory MP Alastair Burt said Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit deal, which is contributing to increased red tape on imports, is costing the UK economy dearly.
He told LBC: “I do believe that leaving the European Union is currently costing us. I think most of the major think tanks that have reported suggest the cost, I can't remember the latest figure, I think there was one that suggested £800 million a month, or something like that.
"I think there is a general presumption among neutral commentators that, at present, there is a physical cost to the United Kingston having left the European Union in terms of the costs of goods and trade and the like, to the UK economy."
His comments come amid a recent flurry of warnings the cost-of-living crisis will get worse, with the governor of the Bank of England saying the UK could face an “apocalyptic” rise in food prices.
James Withers, the chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, also refused to blame the war in Ukraine as the sole reason for rising prices and UK inflation reaching 9% - the highest in the G7.
Wishart, the SNP shadow Commons leader, said the cost of living crisis is the fault of Westminster inaction, adding that the circumstances highlighted the need for independence.
He said: “Alistair Burt’s comments are just the most recent that confirm Brexit has played a crucial factor in making the cost-of-living crisis worse for the UK. Scotland didn’t vote for Brexit and this just underscores how we are living with a cost of living with Westminster crisis.
“The people of Scotland will not be fooled by Westminster’s tactics to blame the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation was already rising before that.
“With the UK experiencing the highest rate of inflation in the G7, there is no doubt that Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit agreement has exacerbated the crisis which could take decades to resolve and only get worse if the Westminster government triggers an unneeded trade war with the EU.
“For months, parties across the political divide have been urging the Chancellor and Prime Minister to deliver a comprehensive package of measures to support those most vulnerable – but those calls continue to be ignored.
“That is why the only way Scotland can fully recover from the pandemic and Tory-made cost of living with Westminster crisis is to become an independent country – and finally rid ourselves of Westminster’s ‘Brexit Britain’ obsession for good.”
Rishi Sunak used a speech to the UK’s captains of industry to announce plans to slash taxes for big businesses, while failing to implement urgent measures to help ordinary families.
The Chancellor told the Confederation of British Industry’s annual dinner on Wednesday night that he wanted to “reduce and reform” business taxes to encourage investment.
But he has so far resisted calls to impose a windfall tax on energy giants making record profits and demands to increase benefits, as the Scottish Government has.
