New report a ‘stark reminder’ of impact of Brexit on Scotland, Forbes says

A new report setting out how Scotland received almost £8 billion of European funding, helping create some 235,000 new jobs, serves as a “stark reminder” of what the country has “lost” because of Brexit, the Deputy First Minister said.

Kate Forbes spoke out as a new study by academics at the University of Strathclyde into the impact of European Union development programmes was published.

Commissioned by the Scottish Government, the research looked at how more than 60 such schemes operated over five decades, from 1975 to this year, when these ended in Scotland following the UK’s departure from the EU back in 2020.

The report found Scotland received more than £7.7 billion in EU Cohesion Policy funding over 50 years, with this creating 235,000 new jobs.

In addition the money helped safeguard 60,000 more jobs, supporting more than 260,000 businesses.

European cash helped pay for improvements to roads, harbours, ferry links and IT networks, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, the report stated, with projects including the Glasgow Science Centre, the Falkirk Wheel and the Scalpay Bridge on the Isle of Harris, amongst those to benefit.

Speaking as the research was published, Ms Forbes said: “This report is a stark reminder of what Scotland has lost since Brexit.

“More than five decades of EU investment delivered tangible benefits for communities across the country, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and helping to build iconic infrastructure from the Falkirk Wheel to the University of the Highlands and Islands.”

The Deputy First Minister added: “Since being removed from the EU against our will we’ve lost access to vital funding streams and businesses face damaging new barriers to trade.”

She spoke out after Professor John Bachtler, who led the study with colleagues Rona Michie and Rachel Maguire, told how “Scotland benefited massively from EU funding over a long period”.

Professor Bachtler noted Scotland was the third largest recipient from the European Regional Development Fund, which was first set up in the mid-1970s.

This money, he said, helped the country “to cope with the impacts of deindustrialisation through investment in new infrastructure, environmental remediation of industrial sites, new business formation and employment and training schemes, especially in the Central Belt”.

The expert added: “The University of the Highlands and Islands would probably not have come into being without EU funding, but it wasn’t just big projects that received funding.”

Meanwhile, report co-author Ms Michie said: “Scotland was a pioneer in Europe in ‘community development’, giving local communities in both urban and rural areas the opportunity to develop projects that improved local quality of life and employment opportunities – the regeneration of town centres, community halls, care facilities and tourism promotion.”