'Brexit border checks' could cost Scotland £380m, claims SNP

Border checks caused by Brexit could cost Scotland £380m million, the SNP has claimed.

A report from the National Audit Office forecasted that more than £4.7 billion of public money will be spent on post-Brexit border controls.

The National Audit Office is an independent body responsible for auditing government departments and agencies.

The SNP has said that Scotland's share of this bill based on population would be £378,803,479.50.

The party claimed this means means the Brexit border checks are set to cost each Scot £69.35, or each Scottish household £148.55.

This is more than the £41 average cost of a UK household’s weekly shop.

The SNP’s EU and EU Accession spokesperson Alyn Smith said: “Scotland’s households and businesses are paying a heavy price for this broken, Brexit Britain.

“We never voted for Brexit and we never voted for the Westminster government that has fuelled the cost of living crisis with a raft of poor economic decisions.

“And Sir Keir Starmer has made it clear that things won’t change under a Labour government with his England only key pledges and his support for Brexit and austerity. Scotland’s values and interests will continue to be ignored and our budgets hammered.

“Voting SNP in the next election is the only way to ensure Scotland and its people are represented and on the path to independence inside the EU - our only escape from Westminster’s costly Brexit.”

Latest figures have the UK population at 67,596,000 and Scotland at 5,448,000 - or 8.06 per cent of the UK.

As a percentage of £4,700,000,000 that is £378,803,479.50 for Scotland.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "Our borders strategy introduces essential, risk-based checks to protect the UK from potentially devastating pests and diseases – and we are making good progress, having successfully rolled out new checks in January and April this year while taking a pragmatic approach which minimises disruption.

“To support traders, we are also launching the Single Trade Window, a single secure gateway, which will make it easier for traders to provide information to Government when importing goods.”

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