‘EVERY VOTE COUNTS’
MAY TAKES CAMPAIGN TO WALES’ LABOUR HEARTLANDS:
THERESA May brought a simple message to Wales, saying voters had a clear choice between her strong leadership that would maximise the chance of a good Brexit deal and a weak “coalition of chaos” headed by Jeremy Corbyn.
Delivering a 10-minute speech to Conservative Party members and supporters in a traditionally Labour ward in Bridgend, the Prime Minister’s presence demonstrated how she is gaining support in unexpected areas.
On Monday an opinion poll put the Tories 10 percentage points ahead of Labour in Wales – a result that if repeated in the General Election on June 8 would see them snatching 10 Labour seats and becoming the biggest party in the country for the first time since the 1850s, when most men and all women weren’t allowed to vote.
Top of the Conservative hit list in Wales is Bridgend, which was held by Labour’s Madeleine Moon in 2015 with a majority of under 2,000. In recent times the seat has been consistently Labour, with the exception of a brief period between 1983 and 1987 when it was held by the Conservatives.
Bridgend would also be a special scalp for the Tories as the constituency is held at Assembly level by First Minister Carwyn Jones.
According to Mrs May it will be the most important General Election called in 60 years.
She left the door open to tax breaks for workers that would be viewed as a direct pitch to win over Labour voters in areas such as Wales.
During her visit, Mrs May said the General Election was “the most important election this country has faced in my lifetime”.
“An election in which every single vote will count. A really important election for the future of this country,” she said.
“A vote for any other party would be a vote for a weak and failing Jeremy Corbyn propped up by a coalition of chaos which would risk our national future.”
The Conservatives have so far refused to repeat the party’s 2015 manifesto pledge not to put up income tax, VAT or national insurance, and Chancellor Philip Hammond has hinted that the promise could be ditched.
But the party is reportedly considering a tax “sweetener” for working people.
Asked about the claims, Mrs May replied: “There’s a choice between a Conservative Party which always has been, is, and will always be a party that believes in lower taxes.”
She added: “The choice is between that and a Labour Party whose natural instinct is always to put up taxes.”
Mrs May insisted she was “not complacent” about the result of the June 8 poll and warned that Mr Corbyn could defy the odds.
She added: “Make no mistake, it could happen. Remember the opinion polls were wrong in the 2015 General Election, they were wrong in the referendum last year.
“Jeremy Corbyn himself has said he was a 200-1 outsider for the Labour leadership in 2015 and look where that one went.
“So we must not be complacent and I’m not complacent.”
Mrs May insisted the Conservatives would be fighting a “positive” campaign and stressed that Brexit was an “opportunity” to change the country “for the better”.
Mrs May accused nationalists of
“propping up” Labour in Wales in a deal that shows how “collaboration” between smaller parties could put Mr Corbyn into power.
She arrived early at the Brackla Community Centre following a visit to Newport Galvanizers Ltd at Llanwern, and after a short introduction by Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns launched straight into her speech which the crowd followed attentively, cheering at key moments and murmuring thoughtfully when she said a Tory win was not guaranteed.
One particularly crowd-pleasing comment was when Mrs May answered a question from The Guardian’s Anushka Asthana about NHS funding. Mrs May said the NHS was an area where there was a clear choice between Labour and the Conservatives and then said: “I can’t stand here in Wales and talk about Labour and the NHS without saying ‘If you want to see what Labour would do to the NHS, just look at the problems here in Wales’.”
Her answer was met with loud cheers.
The Western Mail sought clarification from the Prime Minister about her stance on Brexit, pointing out that Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru had said leaving the European Single Market would be disastrous for Wales’ economy, and reminding her that in a covertly taped discussion with Goldman Sachs employees a month before last year’s referendum she had expressed fears that companies would close down factories and relocate if the UK left the EU.
The Prime Minister responded: “Well as far as I was concerned I was very clear – I campaigned for Remain, I make no bones about that.
“But I also said that if we voted out of the European Union we should take the opportunities for the future that will arise out of Brexit, which is about us being able to negotiate trade agreements around the world.”
In terms of the Single Market she said she wanted the UK to be able to trade with the EU on a tariff-free basis and would seek to achieve that during the negotiations with the EU.
Mr Cairns said this was Mrs May’s fifth visit to Wales in three months and the welcome got “warmer and warmer” each time. He said: “There has never been a more important time to be a Conservative because there has never been a more important time for a strong and stable leadership as we negotiate to leave the European Union and deliver a successful economy beyond.
“It is also an extremely important time for the union of the UK.
“It’s never been more relevant than it has for generations because the union of the UK will deliver that economic prosperity and that stability that we have seen start to recover over recent years.”
Newport East Labour MP Jessica Morden MP said in response to the Prime Minister’s speech: “It beggars belief that Theresa May thinks that she can undo the damage of seven years of devastating austerity with a drive-by visit to south Wales. Her words today will be of little comfort to those people in Bridgend and across Wales whose livelihoods are put at risk by her reckless approach to Brexit.
“The truth is that this was a cursory visit to a constituency that Theresa May and the Tories have failed for seven years, along with the rest of Wales. As Carwyn Jones has made clear, only a vote for Welsh Labour will stop the Tories walking all over Wales.”
THE UK could relinquish its right to cut post-Brexit international trade deals if it gets a good withdrawal agreement with the EU, Labour has suggested.
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the option of remaining in a reformed EU customs union should be part of divorce negotiations.
“What we should do is make sure we have got options on the table, not take options off the table. And the customs union is a classic example.
“There is anxiety across the manufacturing sector about the impact of simply walking away from the customs union. If we leave it on the table, it may be in a year, or two years, that doesn’t work – but why take options off the table before you have even started negotiations?”
Pressed on whether this could mean abandoning Britain’s ability to cut non-EU trade deals, Sir Keir said: “We have to get the right deal with the EU. We need to recognise that we have 44% of our trade with the EU. That is the number one consideration.
“We are talking about the opening stance, not where we will end up. Sensible negotiations start by leaving the maximum number of options on the table.”
Sir Keir said that in seeking a “reformed” relationship with the single market, or customs union, Labour accepted that rules on free movement of workers could not continue as immigration had been such a major factor in the Leave referendum victory.
In a speech in central London, he said he would like Parliament to have a “meaningful” vote on any withdrawal deal late next year, adding that a Labour government would then have time to renegotiate an agreement if MPs rejected what was on offer.
Sir Keir said there would need to be an end-date for such renegotiations, and Britain would switch to emergency transitional arrangements once it exited the EU in order to avoid an economic “cliff edge” if no deal was in place.
He insisted that leaving the EU without a deal would be “reckless” and represent the worst outcome for the UK.
EU nationals would have their right to remain in the UK guaranteed on day one of Jeremy Corbyn taking power, and the Labour leader would then “seek” reciprocal measures for Britons living in the rest of the bloc.
Sir Keir said: “I am absolutely convinced that that gesture would unlock this impasse and guarantee for our citizens across the EU, exactly the same rights.”
Cutting immigration will not be the main priority of a Labour government’s plans for Britain’s future outside the European Union, he said.
“We recognise that immigration rules will have to change as we exit the EU, but we do not believe that immigration should be the overarching priority.”
When asked if Labour completely ruled out a second Brexit referendum, Sir Keir said he would expect transitional arrangements to lead to a final deal in five or six years’ time, adding: “At that stage we will have left the EU three or four years earlier, and therefore the second referendum argument simply doesn’t hold water.”
Labour intends to ditch the Government’s Great Repeal Bill, which Sir Keir claimed would harm protections for workers as well as environmental safeguards.
“We do not believe that leaving the EU means severing our ties with Europe. We do not believe that Brexit means weakening workers’ rights and environmental protections or slashing corporate tax rates.”
Sir Keir had earlier told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We want businesses to trade as successfully in the future as they have done in the past. That is not a wish list, it is an absolute imperative in these negotiations. We accept that unchanged single market membership is not a viable option, but we would want to leave the options on the table, to discuss with our European colleagues what the appetite is for change and revision and reform of some of the single market rules. I’m not pretending that’s going to be easy.”
Responding to Sir Keir’s speech, Brexit Secretary David Davis said: “Jeremy Corbyn is too weak and floundering to get a good deal in the Brexit negotiations.
“A divided Labour Party, propped up by a Liberal Democrat/SNP coalition of chaos, can’t even agree amongst themselves on Brexit. Putting this chaotic team in charge of negotiating with the EU would be a dangerous risk to Britain’s future.”
Answering questions during a campaign visit to Bridgend in South Wales, Theresa May dismissed Labour’s Brexit proposals as “nonsensical”.
“What we’ve seen today from Labour is, I think, their seventh Brexit plan. It’s yet another nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn plan for the future in terms of Brexit,” said Mrs May.
She added: “What you need is a government which has a clear plan for those negotiations. That’s what the Conservative Government has. It’s what the Conservative Party has.
Mrs May claimed that other parties were “actually talking about being willing to prop up a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn”, adding: “That would damage this country’s future, it would risk uncertainty for the future”.