The Leader of UKIP Scotland, Donald MacKay, stressed that the UK is perfectly capable of looking after itself and can trade with whomsoever it wishes.
Sputnik: After yet another run of poor negotiations how likely is a comprehensive free trade agreement between the UK and the EU?
Donald MacKay: It looks increasingly unlikely, but UKIP's position has been that that's what we want. We want a no deal Brexit. I would have assumed that some kind of deal would have been cobbled up but that looks as if that's going to be very difficult. So, I would see the answer to the question is that it will be very unlikely that there will be a deal but I welcome that. I think that's a good thing.
Sputnik: Are you happy with how negotiations have evolved? And also, are the Conservatives necessarily the right party to be delivering the Brexit that a majority of Britain voted for?
Donald MacKay: We're not out yet. We've got another four months to go. So, in a sense, that's a judgement that can be made once we leave. I don't trust the Conservative Party and I'm not sure that I trust the current prime minister. They will do whatever it is in their interest to do, and it's not remotely out of the question that there'll be some sting in the tail, before we actually leave. I would be delighted if we leave the EU on the 31st of December on WTO terms, no deal, nothing. For me that would certainly be a result. Although I've said I think there will be no deal, that it looks less likely, I'm also conscious of that, that you're dealing with politicians; who for all I know are presenting this to the media as if we're struggling to get a deal but perhaps behind the scenes there is concessions potentially going to be made. It's too early to say. I don't trust the Conservatives.
They are the most pro-European party and they've shown it all along. It's only after the catastrophic decision, from his point of view, by Mr. Cameron that people suddenly jumped on the Brexit bandwagon. The people who ought to have arranged of Brexit negotiations of the UK people who've been consistently in favour of leaving the EU for many years and not Johnny-come-latelys. So no, I don't trust them. But it may well be that in the current political climate, they may actually do the right thing, albeit for not necessarily the right reasons.
Sputnik: Is it in Britain's best interest to essentially walk away now without a free trade deal with the EU? Is this something that we should have done months, perhaps even years ago?
Donald MacKay: Absolutely. It is most certainly in our interest. We should have done it a long time ago. We should have done it in 2016 and we shouldn't have gone into it in the first place in 1973. Definitely. We are a sovereign nation state, we are perfectly capable of looking after ourselves, and can trade with whomsoever we wish on tariffs that we choose, or at least we choose to negotiate. I think given that we've just been through the whole COVID nonsense and seeing the economic catastrophe that has caused, it puts the possibilities of a no deal Brexit almost in the shade. The earliest opportunity we leave and leave means leave.
It doesn't mean that we have to follow with anybody, it doesn't mean that we have to stop cooperation on other areas, it just means that we don't have to have a trade deal, because we will be able to arrange our own trade deals as we see on, any government at any point in time sees fit. That's the whole point of leaving. The alternative to that is you end up with a trade deal that means you might as well not have left in the first place, so I’m in favour of leaving at the earliest opportunity and with no deal at all if need be. I have no problem with that. We should have done that a long, long time ago.
