A raft of Scottish fisheries lorries have descended on Westminster to protest Brexit “carnage” that is costing the industry £1 million a day.
Footage of hauliers making their way through central London has emerged on social media, with one lorry branded with “incompetent government destroying shellfish industry” in a nod to the infamous Brexit bus.
Last week SNP Commons leader Tommy Sheppard described reports of Scottish fish being left to rot due to bureaucracy as the “Brexit fishing disaster”, demanding that the fishing industry is compensated for the loss in trade.
He said: “Boats confined to harbour, lorry loads of seafood destroyed, the industry losing £1 million a day as firms go bust – all as a result of Brexit red tape imposed by this Government.”
Scottish fisheries industry making its point in Westminster today. pic.twitter.com/F7tjlVcQl7
— Aileen Boughen (@aileen_boughen) January 18, 2021
@BBCNews reporting live from Westminster….#BrexitReality pic.twitter.com/XwhYvwMiXj
— Brexitshambles (@brexit_sham) January 18, 2021
A Scottish seafood business owner also hit out at the government, threatening to dump piles of rotting shellfish outside parliament in protest at the toll Brexit is taking on the industry.
Jamie McMillan, owner of Lochfyne Langoustine & Lochfyne Seafarms, took to Twitter to share his disgust that Scottish exporters are not able to sell product to the EU market due to Brexit red tape.
"The fishing industry has been made a fool of by the Westminster government."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 14, 2021
A Scottish fisherman from @LochfyneLangous whose "blood is boiling" over #Brexit red tape has threatened to dump seafood at Westminster.
Read more here: https://t.co/bTL8zwbW9k pic.twitter.com/NN4BPTuDky
He branded what was happening “an absolute disgrace” before saying:
“Prime Minister and Michael Gove, I can assure you, if Scottish exporters can’t get their product to market next week, we will be at the gates of Westminster and we’ll be dumping our shellfish on your doorstep rotten.
“The same way Westminster is rotten to the core.
“I am absolutely sickened. We are fighting for our survival, same as every other exporter around Scotland.
“Get it sorted now.”
Related: Fisheries minister didn’t read Brexit bill because she was “organising the local nativity trail”