‘Socialists and separatists’ running Wales standing in the way of freeports, says Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jacob Rees-Mogg has blasted the “socialist and separatists” running the Welsh Government, saying that they are standing in the way of the UK Government creating a tax-free port in Wales.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart had previously said that Wales would have to accept a freeport “come what may”, while Wales’ Economy Minister Vaughan Gething had warned them not to “impose” the port on Wales.
Asked whether a freeport was still on the cards by Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie, Jacob Rees-Mogg replied that the cooperation agreement between Plaid Cymru and Labour had created a “difficulty” for the UK Government.
“I do not know whether you have heard the news that the socialists have gone into partnership with the separatists in Wales, so we now have to wonder whether the socialists are any longer a Unionist party,” Rees-Mogg, the Leader of the House of Commons, replied.
However, he said that “Her Majesty’s Government are committed to establishing the freeports programme in Wales as soon as possible”.
“Freeports are a really important way of levelling up, he said. “They are national hubs for trade, innovation and commerce, regenerating communities across the UK, attracting new businesses, and spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Conservative MP Virginia Corsbie had earlier asked if Jacob Rees-Mogg could “confirm to my constituents that the UK Government are committed to at least two freeports in Wales?”
“Will he update the House on how discussions on freeports are progressing with the Welsh Government?” she asked.
The question came after the Telegraph reported last week that the idea of setting up freeports in Wales and Scotland may have been “killed” by Treasury civil servants.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had previously lauded the free ports as a way of “levelling up” the economy outside of London.
But according to the Telegraph, Treasury privately feared that freeports would simply result in less tax revenue and “displace” existing investment from elsewhere.
“The Treasury has killed freeports,” a source told the newspaper.
The Treasury’s concerns mirror that of the Welsh Government, with First Minister Mark Drakeford previously stating that “anybody sensible” would be “worried about displacement in freeports”.
But he added in March that those issues were “resolvable” but that the “ball at the moment is in the court of the UK government”.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Yeah, that’s because its a crap idea being pushed on us by a crap foreign government you haunted pencil. Calling us seperatists when he was one of the main pushers of brexit for his own financial benefit. Hypocrite.
So funny from Walter the Softy AKA Jacob Rees-Mog. This is a man who championed Brexit, then moved his business HQ to Dublin. Bloody hypocrite! At least in Wales we elect a government that the majority of voters want, where at Westminster we have a fascist Conservative government put in power largely due to the English block vote. And unlike his corrupt Conservative party full of crooks & cretins who flagrantly abuse public funds for self-gain , Welsh Labour & Plaid Cymru, although normally opponents, put their differences aside for the benefit of Wales and the Welsh people. I am… Read more »
Dear Jacob Rees Mogg. The people of Wales did not vote for you or your party. You may dislike Mark Drakeford, or disagree with his policies, but you have to respect the fact that he was elected by the people of Wales & has the democratic mandate to make decisions on our behalf. Just like we have to respect the fact that the people of North East Somerset voted for you to represent them. As for ‘Separatism and Socialism’ well lets talk about Brexit and Nationalism (aka British nationalism) shall we? Because I would suggest that they are two sides… Read more »
Proud to be a unapologetic socialist and separatist 😉
“‘Socialists and separatists’ running Wales standing in the way of freeports”.
I think he meant to say ‘standing in the way of rampant political corruption.
It’s not your business. We will make our own decisions thank you Walter – now sod off before I set gnasher on you.
You just know you’re doing the right thing when people like rees-mogg start attacking you,
Other countries’ experience with freeports suggests they rapidly become happy hunting grounds for organised crime. With a different tax and tariff regime from the country they are embedded in, maybe even different legal structures about things like bills of lading and certificates of origin, the possibilities for malfeasance are legion. The amounts of money involved can be very large. In particular the possibilities for hiding or washing dirty money are many. The sort of rackets that can grow up around freeports are big enough to buy or if needs be even to intimidate regulatory bodies that work on a local… Read more »
‘Socialists’ a.k.a. the people the Welsh electorate voted for because we believe in fairness and justice for all;
‘Separatists’ a.k.a. the people in Wales who refuse to kow-tow to people like Jacob Rees-Mogg!
‘Freeports’ a.k.a. an idea the people of Wales did not vote for and which the Tories have no mandate for.
Sorry if our democracy is inconvenient for you Mr Rees-Mogg!
And what makes him think we want to be “levelled” up, if it means jumping into his trough with all his fellow fascists?!
Freeports are just conduits of corruption, like the city of London. It is better to make a honest living than indulging in this corruption, somebody pays the price down the line. The British empire was and is built on mass exploitation and the funnelling of finance offshore, the money coming from Russia for example and laundered through the city of London and offshored usually British overseas as they are largest conduit of looted resources in the world. Make no mistake for every penny taken out of a country means less for health and education in those countries and I’m not… Read more »
Lord snooty, the chinless foppish limpet of Westminster’s chumocracy elite. He looks like a stiff s#!; would exhaust him. Sorry, nothing constructive to say. This excuse for a politician really makes me quite angry.
Rees-Mogg, if there is anyone who represents colonialist, snobby, entitled victorian Westminster as much as this man let me know. Does he really know why the EU is looking to scrap freeports completely or his own party scrapped them in 2012? Or is he just thinking about what all the right wing Tories love to think about – making money for themselves and their rich chums?
I’m mighty proud to be fighting the likes of Rees-Mogg and all his corrupted, self-serving, far-right tory enemy. Soon, the Welsh Nation will have the decency, the caring attitude and the valiant ambition to declare independence! That evil simpering idiot just makes me want to puke blood.
Didn’t Howard Marks do most of his cannabis smuggling via Shannon Freeport? The sort of law-flouting hippy him and his toff ilk sneer at.
All decent parties should join with Lab-Plaid to create a better Cymru.
And to create a better Cymru, we need Independence.
“socialist and separatists”? Stop threatening me with a good time