Ian Blackford and Stephen Gethins, two parliamentarians from the Scottish National Party (SNP), underlined their concerns about the Brexit negotiations when they met the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, on Thursday 25 October.
Their sources of concern are indeed aplenty. On the same day, the two parliamentarians spoke at the Committee of the Regions about their fear of Scotland's impoverishment. Brexit could result in a 9% fall in regional GDP over 15 years, in other words a loss of £2,300 per person, and the destruction of 80,000 jobs, Blackford stated.
Gethins moreover said that there was more trade between the UK and Belgium than the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa put together. The potential re-establishment of a border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is also of strong concern for the two parliamentarians. The question is Cornelian: there would be more border crossings between Ireland and Northern Ireland than on all the borders of Eastern Europe together.
In the opinion of Blackford and Gethins, the only viable option would be to keep the whole UK in the customs union and its access to the single European market. The hope of achieving such an agreement is thus real, even if it involves renouncing trade autonomy for the British.
"It is our firm belief that there is a strong majority [in the UK Parliament] in favour of remaining. We believe that a free vote in the UK Parliament would result in a choice to stay in the customs union and single market", Blackford stated.
Blackford and Gethins approve of a second referendum being held, this time on the withdrawal agreement negotiated by British government and the EU.
The two men also strongly criticised the attitude of the British government towards Scotland. The British government would like to recover to national level competences devolved to the European Union, although these apparently relate to the remit of the Scottish government under devolution.
"They are taking back control from Scotland", Gethins railed.
The British press has recently uncovered that the Scottish government is preparing (until then secretly) a second referendum on the independence of Scotland. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)