Scotland sets up permanent Berlin hub in Brexit trade drive Scotland is to create a new network of international trade envoys and establish a permanent diplomatic hub in Berlin to demonstrate […]

Scotland is to create a new network of international trade envoys and establish a permanent diplomatic hub in Berlin to demonstrate that the country is “open for business” in the wake of Brexit, Nicola Sturgeon will announce today.

The number of Scottish trade and investment staff working across Europe will be also be doubled as part of efforts to protect the country from the effects of a “hard” Brexit, the First Minister will tell delegates in her closing address to the SNP conference in Glasgow.

“Scotland cannot trust the likes of Boris Johnson and Liam Fox to represent us” The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Nicola Sturgeon

As part of a “four-point plan” to boost Scotland’s trade and exports, the country will establish a new Board of Trade drawing on its business expertise and set up an envoy scheme supported by “prominent and successful” Scots.

The Scottish Government will also create a permanent presence in Germany by setting up a an Innovation and Investment Hub in Berlin, while the number of staff working in Europe for investment agency Scottish Development International will be doubled from 20 to 40.

Ms Sturgeon will stress the importance of making sure Scotland stays “internationally competitive” despite the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote.

She will warn that the country’s economic growth is being threatened by the threat of a “hard” Brexit – which would see the UK being taken out of the EU single market – as well as the Conservative Government’s “deeply damaging and utterly shameful” rhetoric on foreign workers.

“More than ever, we need to tell our European friends that Scotland is open for business,” Ms Sturgeon will tell delegates.

“Scotland cannot trust the likes of Boris Johnson and Liam Fox to represent us. They are retreating to the fringes of Europe, we intend to stay at its very heart where Scotland belongs.”

Fault lines

During the annual gathering, Ms Sturgeon and other senior SNP figures have repeatedly condemned the language heard at last week’s Tory conference – describing it as “xenophobic” – and have sought to position their party as the true opposition at Westminster.

Continuing this theme, the First Minister will dismiss Labour as an electoral force in Scotland, arguing that the “contest of ideas in our country is now between the SNP and the hard-right Tories” as she seeks to redraw the political fault lines.

While her opening address to the conference focused primarily on the Brexit vote and the possibility of a second Scottish independence referendum, today’s speech is expected to revolve around a series of domestic policy initiatives.

The Scottish Conservatives said the SNP should focus on “linking up with the UK’s own trade missions” to boost exports, accusing the party of destabilising the country’s economy by threatening another independence vote.

“Scotland is anything but open for business under the SNP,” said the party’s chief whip John Lamont.

“It has made us the highest taxed part of the UK and embarked on a number of anti-business measures.

“Now it wants to rip us out of a union which is four times more valuable than the EU’s.

“Of course Scottish businesses should continue to look to Europe for trade, but for Nicola Sturgeon to suggest this will be some kind of remedy for putting the barriers up with the rest of the UK is irresponsible.”