Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said the UK-EU trade deal will provide “12 years of certainty and stability” for fishermen which comes after the Prime Minister hailed the agreement as a “win-win.”
British fishermen have slammed Sir Keir Starmer’s deal and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) has said the trade deal is a “horror show.”
Murray told BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday, “I don’t agree with that.
“It gives 12 years of certainty and stability for the industry, it doesn’t change any of the deal that was put in place in 2019, which is 25% more quotas for UK and Scottish trawlers and it gives wide access, of course to the new markets of the EU, in terms of pushing away all that red tape that was there before.
“Not one more fish will be taken out of Scottish waters by an EU trawler as part of this deal and that provides that stability and certainty.”
He added, “I’ve been in business before and I would prefer 12 years of stability and security and certainty than an annual renegotiation that you may or may not win.”
Starmer’s deal with the EU has left the Scottish government furious as they said they were not consulted, but Westminster says the government’s agreement relates to international trade.
Murray rejected the Scottish Government claims, he said, “The Scottish Government has been fully informed all the way through this process.
“The Paymaster General who’s been doing the negotiations has kept them fully informed, there was an inter-ministerial grouping last week, two weeks ago there was a full briefing, and they were kept up to date as the negotiations were running through.”
Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson told MSPs of the deal on Tuesday, “The fact that this agreement, not least on fisheries, was reached without the explicit engagement of the devolved governments on the negotiating detail is not just an affront to devolution, it has put at risk and will continue to put at risk the benefits of any commitments for the people of Scotland.”
Labour’s Neil Bibby said, “The UK Government is getting on with the job of rebuilding our economy, meanwhile the SNP are all over the place on this issue and seem to be opposing this deal alongside Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch.”
