Duty and tax-free shopping

That this House notes the recent Government consultation on the continuation of duty and tax-free shopping for visitors from outside the EU, including the published summary of responses which indicated a majority of respondents supported the continuation of the VAT Retail Export Scheme (VAT RES) and the airside Extra Statutory Concession (ESC); expresses concern that despite those responses, HM Treasury has indicated that it plans to scrap the RES and ESC schemes at the beginning of 2021; further notes that those schemes support hundreds of jobs at Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen Airports and across the wider Scottish retail and aviation sectors at a time when the economy faces its biggest set of challenges since World War Two; understands the removal of RES and ECS will directly result in the loss of hundreds of jobs in Scotland and thousands around the UK; and calls on the Government to abandon its plans to end RES and ECS and engage in real dialogue with businesses and trade unions on how best to support retail and aviation employment in the future.