From the Insider today:
New HM Revenue and Customs data analysed by trade body Salmon Scotland showed that in the first four months of 2024 alone, the value of exports soared by £65m to £250m – a 36% increase on the same period last year. This was accompanied by a 35% increase in the volume of fish transported.
On a rolling annual basis, exports of the fish stand are up 11% increase on last year’s total of £581m, marking the highest sales value since 2019. The EU continues to be the key destination for exports, accounting for £153m worth of the total between January and April.
Sales to the bloc have soared by £53m, while volume was up by 51% to almost 17,000 tonnes. https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-salmon-exports-leap-five-33047738
Now only one of the major parties wants to re-join the EU. Who is it again? Oh, yes it’s the SNP.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
YouGov has a questionnaire out today, asking about voting intentions and about various matters relating to the election. One of these, surprisingly since Labour, Tories and LibDems have been ignoring it, is about Brexit. This is probably because Farage has entered the election as a Reform candidate and leader and he has made immigration an issue and some interviewers are questioning him about Brexit because of the effect it has had on immigration, amongst other things.
The Question asks participants if they favour rejoining the EU, and then asks on a scale of 0-10 the strength of feeling. ‘0’ is labeled ‘fully integrated with the European Union’, but ‘10’ is labeled ‘fully protect our borders’. Reallyunbiased terminology there, eh?
YouGov is owned by amongst others Nadia Zahavi, former Tory Cabinet Minister, one of whose posts was Chancellor, and who ‘came to an arrangement with HMRC about £5million of unpaid tax’. He also claimed Parliamentary expenses for the heating of his stables.
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Prominent on Labour in Scotland’s website right now is this: ‘What will Labour do for Scotland? – Our 6 first steps to change Scotland‘. This is Labour’s step number six!
Perhaps a moments thought as to relevant context and perspective by Labour’s leadership in Scotland might have been helpful before issuing this kind of substance-free stuff. It’s possible of course that this ‘maximising’ pledge has been dreamt up to give an incoming Labour Secretary of State for Scotland (Ian Murray?) cover for a ‘pretendy’ purpose!
This pledge to Scotland on ‘maximising influence’ on trade ironically is from the same Labour Party determined never to make the case for the UK to rejoin the EU or re-join the single market and customs union. This ‘maximising influence’ Labour Party is the same one opposed to the people of Scotland even having the option to vote on options to maximise their country’s influence! It’s as if when dreaming up this change number six, Labour in Scotland became unaware or unconcerned that not so long ago, Scotland and its businesses were able to benefit from the EU’s globally extensive trade network and free trade agreements, as well as access to the European single market. Now that was all ‘maximising’ influence and benefit for Scotland’s businesses!
On salmon and much more besides, Scotland’s international trade does pretty well relative to other parts of the rUK.
See https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-trade-in-numbers/uk-trade-in-numbers-web-version#regional-trade-statistics
‘5.1 UK exports by UK nations and English regions 2021:
Scotland = £50.1 billion (7.7% of UK exports) – London at 19.1% skews the UK percentage figures.
‘5.2 UK imports by UK nations and English regions 2021:
‘Scotland = £29.2 billion (4.3% of UK imports) – London at 20.3% and SE England at 17.2% skew the UK percentage figures.’
These are the latest figures: the next release of these regional statistics is set at ‘tbc 2024’.)
It’s known – based on the annual EY Attractiveness Survey – that Scotland performs better than most parts of the UK, bettered only by London, in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (fdi).
For example, this is from the most recent EY report: ‘Scotland was the UK location securing the second highest number of projects in 2022, a position it has also held in nine of the past ten years. Scotland recorded 126 projects in 2022 compared to 122 in 2021, a rise of 3.3% — the fourth successive annual increase, and Scotland’s largest ever total. Major drivers of Scottish FDI projects included digital technology and utility projects, including renewables. Scotland’s share of all UK projects continued to rise, reaching 13.6% in 2022 from 10% in 2019 and 12.3%
in 2021.’
Source ‘ Navigating through turbulence – EY UK Attractiveness Survey UK including Scotland spotlight June 2023’
Scotland has long benefited from the highly professional and effective Scottish Development International (SDI) both in the promotion of exports from Scotland and attracting fdi into Scotland. SDI presently has 30 trade and investment offices spread across the world in 23 countries. This capacity and capability, together with the Scottish Government’s nine offices in places like Berlin and Beijing, work together and, yes whilst within the UK, with UK Department for International Trade.
So what is Labour in Scotland actually offering voters with this so called ‘change’? Anyone know what new, additional inputs; what new, more effective activities; with what scale of greater outputs, outcomes and impacts this ‘maximising influence’ will actually involve and lead to? All these seem reasonable questions to put to a Party which sees this specific election pledge as one of just six being given priority profile in an attempt to attract voters in Scotland.
Do the folk who run the Labour Party in Scotland really take voters here for mugs? Or are they just naturally patronising?
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“Do the folk who run the Labour Party in Scotland really take voters here for mugs? Or are they just naturally patronising?”
Hey! They can multitask. Why not both?
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Yes, pro-violence lobby group Salmon Scotland are delighted that the Scottish Government is so successful in encouraging the killing of vast amounts of non-human animals for money.
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Increased exports all well and good but how is this vast amount of salmon “farmed”…? The fish farms infesting the sea and lochs around Scotland are not good for the salmon, or the environment.
JohnH
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