Senedd marks five years since Brexit

Chris Haines ICNN Senedd reporter

Plaid Cymru called for Wales to rejoin the single market and align with EU law, warning Brexit has cost the Welsh economy up to £4bn.

Adam Price led a debate to mark Friday’s fifth anniversary of the UK exiting the EU in 2020 after the referendum in which Wales voted 52.53% “leave” and 47.47% “remain” in 2016.

The former Plaid Cymru leader said: “I think it would be magical thinking, wouldn’t it, it would be stretching credulity, to say that Brexit has been a triumph, the kind of step change that was promised to us at the time of the referendum.

“Nor has it been the complete cataclysm in totality that some had feared. The real picture is mixed. The problem lies in the make-up of that mixture.”

Mr Price told the Senedd that London and the south East weathered Brexit relatively well while the Welsh economy has lost out to the tune of billions of pounds.

‘Nobody knows’

Urging the Welsh Government to back membership of the single market and customs union, he asked: “What is Wales’s European strategy? Well, the problem is this: nobody knows – we don’t know, the UK doesn’t know, Europe doesn’t know.”

Mr Price called on ministers to commit to aligning Welsh and European law, pointing out that Northern Ireland automatically keeps pace with EU law through the Windsor framework.

He said Scotland continues to do so voluntarily through its continuity act – an idea adopted from Wales that was later repealed by the Senedd.

In the wake of the referendum, Steffan Lewis, the former Plaid Cymru Senedd member who died aged 34 in 2019, proposed preserving EU law and maintaining regulatory alignment.

Mr Price said this would ensure world-leading standards in areas like the environment, help businesses access markets as seamlessly as possible and send a pro-European message.

‘Vegetables to Viagra’

Darren Millar, who became leader of the Tory group last month, told the Senedd that Brexit resulted in a “huge repatriation” of powers to the UK and Cardiff Bay.

He said: “We were told Brexit would lead to rising unemployment, a collapse in house prices and shortages of every imaginable commodity, from fresh fruit and vegetables to Viagra. Yet what happened? Well, the prophets of doom were completely wrong.”

Mr Millar accused Plaid Cymru of hypocrisy: on one hand calling for independence but, on the other, wanting to “shackle” Wales to the “barmy and bloated bureaucracy” of the EU.

He told the Senedd: “There’s an inconvenient truth that Plaid and Labour would like us to ignore, and it is this: the people of Wales spoke very clearly on this issue. They voted to leave the EU. Plaid Cymru, the so-called party of Wales, wanted to ignore their voices.”

‘Tory Jackanory’

Accused of hypocrisy for retaining EU citizenship, Mr Millar hit back: “I have held an Irish passport for decades, long before the Brexit referendum. And I find it contemptuous, frankly.”

His Conservative colleague James Evans accused Plaid Cymru of being out of touch, clinging to the past and refusing to respect a decision made by the people of Wales.

Plaid Cymru’s Llŷr Gruffydd responded: “Well, that’s the best episode of Tory Jackanory I’ve heard in a long time, I have to say. Honestly. Honestly. The brass neck of Conservatives telling the rest of us that we’re out of touch. Really. Really.”

Labour’s Alun Davies told the Senedd he fully agreed with the Plaid Cymru motion and he was disappointed with the UK Government’s position.

He said: “We need, as a parliament and as politicians, to be honest with people and to speak clearly about what we want to see. Brexit has diminished Wales. It has damaged Wales.”

‘Regrettable’

Responding to the debate on January 29, Rebecca Evans said Wales remains committed to maintaining a strong relationship with the EU despite a “hard, chaotic, Tory Brexit”.

Ms Evans, who was appointed economy secretary in September, told the chamber that the Welsh Government has maintained a presence in Brussels to further the country’s interests.

She hailed the Taith international exchange programme set up following the previous UK Government’s “deeply regrettable” decision to quit the Erasmus scheme.

Mr Price pointed out that Taith’s budget has been cut by £1.6m in the Welsh Government’s draft spending plans for the new financial year.

Senedd members voted 40-11 against the motion, with one abstention.

The Tories’ amendment was similarly voted down, 27-14 with 11 abstaining, before the Welsh Government’s amended version of the motion was agreed by the same margin.