SCOTLAND — Scottish government Europe minister Stephen Gethins told Holyrood on June 18 that Brexit resulted in £3.3 billion in lost revenue for Scotland during the past year. Gethins also stated that Brexit led to an increase of £250 in food bills in Scotland.

Support for Scottish independence currently stands at about 50%. In the 2016 EU referendum, 62% of Scottish voters backed Remain and 38% backed Leave. Kezia Dugdale, former Scottish Labour leader, stated that the Brexit vote creates a frame around fairness for many in Scotland. Dugdale said that the UK government's embrace of a hard Brexit swayed many Scots who had been undecided about Scottish independence in 2014. She added, "I think it sustained support for independence, which otherwise would have fallen back."

Dugdale spoke to Nicola Sturgeon, who was the first minister of Scotland, on the morning of June 24, 2016. During that conversation, Dugdale told Sturgeon, "This changes everything." Support for Scottish independence reached 59% by October 2020.

However, support for Scottish independence fell to below 40% during 2017. In the 2017 general election, the SNP lost 21 Westminster seats, and its vote share fell by 13 points. In that election, the Conservative Party won 13 seats in Scotland, Labour won seven seats, and the Liberal Democrats won four seats. In the five UK and Holyrood elections since 2017, the SNP has never won 50% of the vote. In the recent Holyrood elections, the SNP achieved 38% of the vote, which was its lowest share since 2007. Reform UK won 17 seats in the same elections, making it jointly Holyrood's second largest party.

Dugdale is an associate director of the Centre for Public Policy at Glasgow University. She is no longer a member of the Labour party and voted for the SNP in the 2019 European parliament election. She stated, "We've had more than 15 years of austerity and 15 years of falling trust in political institutions." Dugdale also said, "If we sustain these things long enough, people no longer trust the system to make their lives better."