The costs of preparing for Brexit we didn’t vote for, currently stands at £4,200 million, of which Scotland’s share by population is over £344.4 million. This would be enough to train 7,663 people, the combined equivalent of 3,466 teachers, 2,392 nurses and 1,805 police officers.
The SNP recently called on the UK Treasury to foot the bill for Police Scotland’s Brexit policing costs of £18 million, with 400 Scottish officers preparing to be deployed on Brexit duty.
Kenneth Gibson MSP said:
“Scotland didn’t vote to leave the European Union and definitely or a no-deal Brexit, but we are having to pay for the Brexit chaos that they’ve created. That is money that would be the equivalent of 7,663 vital public sector jobs in Scotland.
“The same Tories at Westminster are happy to waste billions on a Brexit Scotland didn’t vote for, a ferry company with no ships, or a give a £1 billion bung to the DUP.
“Instead of funding and investing in our public services with this money, the SNP Government is being forced to mitigate UK Tory cuts.
“The economic cost of Brexit will be high. Scotland should not have to pay for an irresponsible Tory government which will inflict economic and social harm on us all, while putting thousands of jobs at risk.
“Westminster’s shambolic handling of and the unnecessary cost to Scotland, means that the case for having independence is getting stronger by the day.”
The cost for training a teacher with a Bachelor of Education is £33,100 over four years.
Training a nurse costs £16,000 a year for three years and a police officer £31,800 a year for two years.
If the £344.4 million was divided equally with £114.8 million to train teachers, £114.8 million to train police officers and £114.8 million to train nurses, for the money “officially” being spent in Scotland on Brexit, we could fully train another 3,466 teachers, 1,805 police officers and 2,392 nurses. In total, we could have 7,663 more vital public sector workers.
ENDS
