And the latest EU trade regulations – the General Product Safety Regulations – are exercising the Federation of Small Businesses. Such new burdens are where the loss of both frictionless trade and the free movement of goods and people really hit home.
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement – under which we currently toil post-2016 – has resulted in 14% of firms, which previously exported quite happily to the EU, ceasing to do so. And – just to hammer the point home – 502 UK business leaders, recently surveyed, stated unequivocally that the policy commitment most desired from the Government is “making the UK’s relationship with the EU work better for business”.
UK Labour needs to face these facts. It’s not enough to promise to seek a veterinary agreement, and recognition of professional qualifications, welcome though these are. Important groups are demanding more than we’ve been given. Manufacturers, farmers, fishers, the culture sector – even the Financial Services sector – they’re all unhappy. Perhaps the most egregious act of needless cruelty has been the denial of youth mobility.
Nor is it just about removing barriers to trade. It’s also about addressing our own skills shortages. Scottish Engineering has flagged this up as likely to stymie any jobs boom, such as the mooted green energy transition. One in five apprenticeships have been cut as Skills Development Scotland’s budget shrinks. Half of jobs in the care sector have vacancies. Reports indicate the NHS is frequently operating at unsafe levels of staffing. The construction industry has bemoaned the fact we simply do not have the bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters, plasterers, groundworkers, tilers, electricians, roofers and engineers to achieve the massive house-building programme wanted across Britain. It would be nice to think home-grown tradespeople could be trained up to meet these needs, and there need to be programmes to facilitate that. But we also have high levels of long-term sickness and economic inactivity. Better-managed immigration could help us out of our current hole.
Throw in the impending challenges of Trumpian tariffs, and it is hard to conclude that continuing to act outside the European umbrella is anything other than pointless posturing.
Sir Keir Starmer and his UK Government should think again about their self-denying ordinance, and put meat on the bones of the so-called “reset” of relations with our European partners. European Economic Area, anyone? How about the European Free Trade Area? No, Mr Starmer? Just the Eurovision Song Contest, then…
Michael Gregson is Labour Councillor for Inverness Central
Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk