Nicola Sturgeon to declare Scotland “open for business” with Brexit trade hub plan
Nicola Sturgeon is to set out new post-Brexit trading structures and declare Scotland “open for business”.
Concluding the Scottish National Party conference in Glasgow, Sturgeon will announce plans for a new trade hub in Berlin along with trade staff in order to boost European exports.
The First Minister is also expected to attack the Conservative government’s rhetoric around immigration, according to the BBC.
Read more: It's back: Sturgeon paves the way for second Scottish independence vote
“Make no mistake, the growth of our economy right now is threatened not just by the prospect of losing our place in the single market – disastrous though that would be,” she is expected to say.
“It is also the deeply damaging – and utterly shameful – message that the Tories' rhetoric about foreign workers is sending.
“And the uncertainty that message brings to our public services and Scottish employers. More than ever, we need to tell our European friends that Scotland is open for business.”
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon is not a fan of hard Brexit
On Thursday, Sturgeon confirmed that legislation for a second independence referendum will be published for consultation next week.
“I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence – and to do so before the UK leaves the EU – if that is necessary to protect our country's interests,” she said.