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Interestingly, my letting you make an intervention, Mr Hoy, was predicated on your giving me a benefit of Brexit, but, as usual, you neatly avoided that.

I note that 26 per cent of Scotland’s economy is rural.

I will shortly.

Furthermore, rather than our having that £350 million a week Brexit bonus that we saw on the side of a bus, the UK Treasury has been forced to admit that the UK has already paid to the EU £23.8 billion as part of its financial settlement agreement and will pay a further £6.4 billion. I do not call that a benefit.

Then there was the Boris battle cry that, after Brexit, the UK could control immigration. How has that gone? As a matter of fact, immigration from the EU was largely economic, based on job seeking, which is much less true of immigration from outside the EU.

I say to Tim Eagle that the present and the future are predicated on the past. No wonder he and the Tories have lodged an amendment that would delete from the motion any reference to Brexit.

The rural sector, like others, is feeling the impact of Brexit—one that Labour will not reverse. That sector comprises 26 per cent of Scotland’s economy.

I will, but a little bit later, Mr Eagle, if you do not mind.

The rural economy puts food on our plates, leads the fight against climate change and nature loss, and delivers significant value for taxpayers’ investment. Rural businesses are at the forefront of our efforts to tackle the nature and climate crisis, and, at the same time, they provide jobs that boost our economy and support Scotland’s food economy. It is a fantastic sector. Rural businesses are the custodians of the land that they farm, and, if only on that, I agree with that part of Mr Eagle’s amendment.

I turn to the labour market. Much of the rural economy was dependent on EU workers, who were often seasonal. That has pretty well ended, and we have heard of produce dying and rotting in the fields for want of labour. Is that one of the benefits of Brexit, Mr Hoy?

I turn to the possible veterinary agreement with the EU.

I would like to get on. Is it about the veterinary agreement? [Interruption.] Is this a benefit?

That was more of a speech, and it was not really worth it. When you think of the tax that is now being levied on the whisky industry, which the sector is up in arms about, and the levies that the USA is about—[Interruption.] I am coming to the lovely Tories. As I was saying, 10 to 20 per cent tariffs on whisky exports to the USA might be coming. I cannot see that as a benefit of Brexit.

I return to the veterinary agreement, which Tim Eagle did not want me to talk about. Such an agreement would ensure that UK and EU standards were equivalent or aligned. That is important for animal welfare, the biosecurity of plants and so on. The Labour Party made a manifesto commitment to pursue such an agreement, which would aid a new trading relationship with the EU. For many years, the Scottish Government has called for a comprehensive veterinary and sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, which would substantially reduce the barriers to trade that have been put in place following Brexit. I hear that the cabinet secretary is hopeful that that will come to pass. Let us watch this space.

I have lost my speech now—excuse me a minute. I never should tamper with technology. Oh, something strange has appeared. I will go back to it.

I am going to. I have a paper back-up.

I have not had time to mention national insurance or agricultural property tax relief. That would have been an attack on Labour—it deserves it, too.

When it comes to the good news, I have a problem. While any Government in this Parliament has to rely on the bulk of its budget coming from Westminster, while macroeconomic policies such as national insurance and inheritance tax are reserved and while the UK Government has ruled out rejoining the EU in any shape or form, there is very little good news on Brexit until we are—here is the word that the Tories like—independent and can rejoin the EU. Frankly, I agree with George Osborne and his dire predictions.

Forgive me, but I will start with the bad news. In the referendum on whether to remain in or leave the EU, commonsense Scotland voted 62 per cent to remain—it did not matter which part of Scotland you lived in; every council area in Scotland, urban and rural, voted remain. That was in 2016. The result was that David Cameron resigned and in came Theresa May, who was dispatched quite quickly and was followed by oven-ready Brexit Boris, with that £350 million a week so-called Brexit bonus for the national health service plastered on the side of a bus—oh, and, apparently, a queue of other countries just itching to do trade deals with a liberated UK.

I recall President Barack Obama warning that, after Brexit, the UK would be at the “back of the queue” for trade talks with the USA, and President-elect Donald Trump is going one better by threatening tariffs of 10 per cent to 20 per cent on imports to the USA, which is the UK’s biggest trading market. There are tough times ahead for food and drink exports from Scotland. Beatrice Wishart was quite right about that so-called queue of people waiting for trade deals.

Interestingly, before the referendum, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne issued extremely dour predictions on the effect of Brexit on the economy. Those predictions went all the way to 2030. He is better than Mystic Meg, as his predictions have come to pass. Fast forward eight years and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has said:

“weak growth in imports and exports over the medium term partly reflect the continuing impact of Brexit”,

which it expects to

“reduce the overall trade intensity of the UK economy by 15 per cent in the long term.”

If you are going to tell me a benefit of Brexit, I will listen.

Well, I do not know—what a choice. I will give way to my friend Mr Hoy.

I challenge the member for suggesting that it would be very difficult for Scotland to re-enter the EU. Most of our legislation and policies remain EU compliant. They are now being dismembered, but they are there, so it would be much easier for us than for somebody who was coming in for the first time.