A TORY MSP ended up admitting there were no benefits to Brexit when pressed by an audience member of the BBC panel show Debate Night.
Roz McCall was asked by someone in the crowd to outline what she thought was good about Scotland’s forced departure from the European Union and, when pressed further by host Stephen Jardine, she insisted she had “difficulty” picking out anything.
McCall was on the show with SNP MP John Nicolson, who said: “There are no benefits to Brexit. It was forced on Scotland against our will despite 62% of people rejecting it and opposition to Brexit continues to rise in Scotland.
“I agree with Roz McColl that there are no benefits to Brexit. The Prime Minister has just hailed the deal allowing Northern Ireland to enjoy all the benefits the EU Single Market brings. Scotland deserves no less.
“Scotland needs access to the European Union, a market that is seven times the size of the UK’s.
“Both the Tories and Labour are now hard-line Brexit parties. Scotland can only enjoy the benefits of the EU Single Market - and a return to free movement - if we choose independence and re-join the European Union.
“And as we know the European Union is desperate to have us back.“
This week Rishi Sunak announced he had signed a deal with the EU to replace the Northern Ireland Protocol to ease trading issues across the Irish Sea.
The deal – which means Northern Ireland will have access to both the UK and EU markets- could still face challenges from Unionists in the province and hardline Brexiteers.
Experts have also said a deal for Scotland to access the EU single market was “not in the least bit likely” despite the new arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Before the UK left the EU, the Scottish Government had repeatedly called without success for Scotland to remain in the EU single market and customs union in the event of Brexit taking place.
On the show, McCall got into a spat with Nicolson when she said Scotland was not meeting any of the targets it would need to to get back into the bloc.
“We are not meeting any of the targets we would need to meet…to get back into the EU” “We do meet the criteria”@theSNP’s John Nicolson disagrees with @RozMccall over an independent Scotland's ability to re-join the EU #bbcdn https://t.co/yOajIu6V8E pic.twitter.com/AiUAtVN6wx
— BBC Debate Night (@bbcdebatenight) March 1, 2023
Nicolson then said: “Do you remember the Tories fought the last election telling us there was an oven-ready deal? Well that was a porky if ever we heard a porky.
“There was no oven-ready deal. England got what it wanted, Wales got what it wanted, now Northern Ireland has got what it wanted, the only country that didn’t get what it wanted was Scotland that voted to remain.
“Next time you have a Tory chapping your doors, remember they told us it was absolutely impossible to have a border - Scotland could not be independent because we couldn’t be an EU country with a border with the UK. Well there’s a truck gone through that argument with this deal.”
