Goods checks needed on just two roads after independence, says Sturgeon
The First Minister said she believed Scotland and England could have a border relationship like Norway and Sweden.
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Your support makes all the difference.Checks on goods moving between England and Scotland would happen on two major trunk roads between the countries after independence, a Scottish Government document has said.
The issue of the border has been a cause for concern over the years, with businesses worrying about the flow of goods from Scotland to its largest trading partner.
A paper published on Monday by the Scottish Government sought to allay some fears over the issue, with the publication of the third document in a series designed to refresh the prospectus for Scottish independence.
The paper reiterated the Government’s commitment to seek to re-join the EU, which would create a trade border with the rest of the UK.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a post-independence trading arrangement between Scotland and England could mirror that seen between Norway and Sweden – where the countries give authority for the other to check goods on their behalf, limiting the time spent at the border.
But the document said checks would take place on the “two main trunk roads between England and Scotland or at rail freight terminals”.
When asked if the roads were the M6 (M74) and the A1, the First Minister signalled that was the case.
According to Professor Nicola McEwen, who spoke at a fringe event at the SNP conference last week, there are 25 road crossing points between the two countries.
Asked how people bringing goods across the border using the other roads, the First Minister dodged the question, saying that further detail would be made public in another paper in the series, which would deal with issues relating to the European Union.
“We’re being candid here about the implications of Scotland being back in the EU and the rest of the UK – wrongly in my view – is out,” she said.
“That is a feature of Brexit and the benefit that Scotland gets from that outweighs the challenges that we would face.
“We would… increasingly use technology to (conduct border checks).”
The First Minister added: “Are these challenges that we wish we didn’t have? Yes, but if we want to get back into the EU will all the benefits – the many benefits – that come with that, we have to overcome these challenges.”
She continued: “With proper planning, the ability to do that in a way that doesn’t disrupt trade – trade between Scotland and England is important, trade between England and Scotland is important to England – but that should not be the limit of our ambitions.
“We have a market seven times the UK’s on our doorstep and we should be seeking to put the arrangements in place that allow trade across that.”
In response to a question of if there will be any checks at the other road border crossings, the First Minister said: “That is what we’re saying in the paper, we’re setting out in this paper the broad approach that we will take which we will supplement with more detail on exactly these points you’re talking about later in the series.”
When asked what technology would be used to help ease any issues with border checks, the First Minister said that would be set out in the EU paper.
The document also said the Scottish Government was “committed to supporting businesses trading in Scotland”.