It is important that we protect the UK Internal Market Bill. Many businesses depend on trade with the home nations more than any other partner. For example, in Scotland sales of produce to the rest of the UK are worth £52.1 billion per year, accounting for over 60 per cent of all exports – more than all other nations which Scotland trades with combined. Similarly, about 50 per cent of Northern Ireland sales are to Great Britain and 75 per cent of Welsh exports of goods are consumed in other parts of the UK.
Data shows that the combined total sales from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom were worth over £90 billion in 2018.
Without this action, a Welsh lamb farmer may be unable to sell their lamb in Scotland or a Scottish whisky producer could lose access to supply from English barley farmers.
To allow each home nation to take full advantage of the new opportunities presented by Brexit, and to ensure businesses can continue to trade freely trade across the UK as they do now, the Government is legislating to maintain the UK Internal Market and to ensure that new barriers to trade do not emerge within the UK as EU law falls away.
