I would like to speak to new clauses 44 and 56, in my colleagues’ names. New clause 56 in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Glenrothes (Peter Grant) is on an issue raised with the Prime Minister today. Gibraltar voted by 96% to remain in the European Union—an even higher figure than for those who voted remain in Scotland and Northern Ireland. That vote clearly reflected the people of Gibraltar’s concern to protect the rights that they have acquired since joining the EU with the UK in 1973.
Gibraltarians need their border to be kept fluid, so that commerce can thrive and so that residents, workers and tourists can continue to pass through a border that should have only proportionate controls and reasonable checks. It is fair to say that they are not asking for anything from the UK that they have not had to date, and it is right that they should be given a firm, formally enshrined legal guarantee to add confidence for industries and commerce. The right of a person from or established in Gibraltar to provide services into the UK, where that right existed immediately before exit day as a result of the UK and Gibraltar’s common membership of the EU, should continue. There is strong cross-party support and, building on the Prime Minister’s comments earlier, I hope the Minister will touch on it in his summing up.
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New clause 44, in the name of my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry)—she will be keen to talk about this—was tabled in co-operation with Camphill Scotland. Its “Report of the key findings of the survey on the potential impact of BREXIT on Camphill in Scotland” highlights the significant impact that leaving the European Union could have on the health and social care sector.
New clause 44 would require the UK Government to make arrangements for an independent evaluation of the impact of legislation on the health and social care sector. I know the Minister will want to address that later. The person undertaking the evaluation would be required to consult the Scottish Government and other relevant persons, given the nature of some of the responsibilities. Such an evaluation is vital to help shape and inform long-term planning and the design and delivery of services in the health and social care sectors across the UK in the post-Brexit era. Other devolved Administrations will be affected, too.
SNP amendments 219 to 221 are designed to protect Scotland’s businesses from the impact of leaving the EU by requiring—the Minister will like this—the publication of an impact assessment before exiting the EU. The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is in his place, and since I raised this with him in October 2016, when he told me there were 51 sectoral assessments, the Department will have been working hard on them for more than a year. We very much look forward to seeing more detail following their year-long work. Of course, that was promised to the Scottish Government, too.
Other Members who have touched on this have not actually gone to look at the impact assessments we were promised. When I turned up, all my electronic devices were taken away from me and two officials sat over my shoulder as I read. I thought that the nuclear codes might be in there somewhere, but I was sadly mistaken. I am not entirely sure what all the security was for. Eighteen months after the EU referendum, we still do not have something on the economic implications that can be published. Given the security, given the fuss and given the time that Ministers have had, I was pretty underwhelmed by what I read.