Wales sees surge of support for ‘soft’ Brexit in new poll
MORE than twice as many people in Wales now say keeping free access to the European Single Market is more important to them than restricting the right of people from EU countries to work in the UK, an exclusive poll has found.
A survey conducted for the Western Mail by Beaufort Research has shown a significant strengthening of support for the kind of “soft Brexit” championed by First Minister Carwyn Jones but rejected by Theresa May. Those surveyed were given two options – keeping free access to the Single Market, so that the UK can continue to sell goods and services without incurring tariffs or other obstacles to trade, while allowing citizens from all EU countries to work in the UK; or restricting the right of people from EU countries to work in the UK, but not having free
access to the Single Market. Some 60% backed the first option, with 27% favouring the second and 13% saying they don’t know.
Mr Jones has argued that retaining “unfettered access” to the Single Market is vital for Welsh exporters and the strength of the economy. Without such a deal, tariffs would be imposed postBrexit on goods and services exported from the UK to EU countries.
On top of that, there would be additional bureaucratic burdens like the need to demonstrate the origin of each component in manufactured goods at the time they are exported.
Mr Jones has repeatedly argued that such hurdles would be likely to drive investors away and could result in the relocation of businesses from Wales to EU countries.
The First Minister has, however, also acknowledged that many people who voted Leave in the June 2016 referendum did so because they were concerned by the levels of EU migration into the UK.
EU leaders have made it clear that if the UK is to retain unfettered access to the Single Market, we must allow EU citizens to live and work here.
In a White Paper published jointly with Plaid Cymru last January, the Welsh Government argued that the UK’s position on freedom of movement for future EU migrants should be modified so that only those with a pre-existing job offer should be entitled to it.
Mr Jones believes such a modification could allow the UK to retain unfettered access to the Single Market.
Our new poll shows that more affluent people in Wales (in the ABC1 socio-economic groups) and younger people (aged 16-34) are most likely to favour a soft Brexit (at 66% and 60% respectively), as are those living in Cardiff and south-east Wales (at 62%).
Those most likely to want a hard Brexit are less affluent people (C2DEs) and the over-55s (at 33% and 35% respectively), as are people living in the Valleys, south-west Wales and mid and west Wales (at 32-33%).
But in all categories, more people thought retaining free access to the Single Market was more important than restricting the right of EU citizens to work here.
In the Valleys there has been a noticeable shift from last November, when 33% were more concerned about restricting migration than keeping free access to the Single Market against 52% who thought keeping Single Market access was more important.
Now the figures are 28% and 60% respectively.
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “This shows the majority of people in Wales share our view that the UK’s top priority must be protecting the Welsh economy and jobs by ensuring full and unfettered access to the Single Market. The Prime Minister has no mandate for a hard Brexit and continuing to push this agenda in spite of public opinion and the support of many in her cabinet could be devastating for Wales. The UK Government needs to start listening to the people and aim to deliver a successful Brexit that works for all regions and nations of the UK.
“When the First Minister meets
Michel Barnier [the EU’s top Brexit negotiator] shortly, he will be arguing for an outcome to the Brexit negotiations which safeguards Welsh jobs and the Welsh economy, that will work for the whole UK and which acknowledges the legitimate concerns of the other member states of the EU.”
Steffan Lewis, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, said: “No-one in Wales voted last year to be worse off following our withdrawal from the European Union. Neither was the referendum a binary choice between full isolation and EU membership. Now that Theresa May’s hard Brexit has been rejected by the public, we’ve an opportunity to shape a new relationship with Europe that results in our continued membership of the Single Market.
“The UK Government must now yield to demands for an approach to EU negotiations that involves all the nations of the UK and ensure that 200,000 Welsh jobs are protected through securing our continued participation in the Single Market.”
A spokesman for the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: “Wales benefits enormously from being part of the world’s biggest Single Market, and people are beginning to realise the threat that a hard Brexit poses for Wales and the UK.
“The Conservatives must make membership of the Single Market a priority during the Brexit negotiations to protect workers’ rights, opportunities for our small businesses and the price of our weekly shop.
“During the referendum the Leave campaign told the country that Britain could remain a member of the Single Market, yet the Conservatives pursued a hard Brexit for pure political gain. The Conservatives must now put the needs of the country first.”
A spokesman for Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: “There is no such thing as a soft Brexit or a hard Brexit. You either leave the European Union or you don’t.
“Remaining bound by EU laws, unable to make new trade deals and unable to control immigration would mean that we haven’t left at all.
“Given that the majority of the country voted to leave, we ought to just be getting on with that.”
Fieldwork for Beaufort’s Omnibus survey took place between June 12-25, 2017. A total of 1,008 interviews were completed and analysed to achieve a representative sample of Wales’ adult population.
THERESA May has hailed the “powerful vote of confidence” in Britain that Donald Trump and other world leaders have shown with their “strong desire” to strike new trade deals after Brexit.
The Prime Minister said she is “optimistic and positive” about a future pact with the US after the president said he believed an agreement could be reached “very, very quickly”.
Following talks on the margins of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Mr Trump hailed the “very special relationship” he had developed with the PM.
He said he expected an agreement on new trading arrangements with Britain to be “very powerful”.
Mrs May said: “We are optimistic and positive about this.”
As well as talks with President Trump, Mrs May has met the premiers of China, Japan and India for one-to-one meetings during the two-day summit.
She said: “I’ve held a number of meetings with other world leaders at this summit and have been struck by their strong desire to forge ambitious new bilateral trading relationships with the UK after Brexit.
“This is a powerful vote of confidence in British goods, British services, Britain’s economy and the British people, and we look forward to building on these conversations in the months ahead.”
Mrs May insisted she was confident the UK would also secure a good deal with the EU “because it’s not just about what’s in the interests of the United Kingdom, it’s about what’s in the interests of the remaining 27 members states in the European Union and I think it is in the interests of both sides to have that good trade agreement”.
She added: “But I’m also optimistic about the opportunities that we will see in the rest of the world.
“Some of the countries I have been talking to here who have shown great interest in working with us on trade arrangements in the future, the United States, Japan, China, India, these are all huge world economies.
“This is an important development for the United Kingdom and I look forward to developing those trade deals as well.”
Mr Trump and the Prime Minister agreed in a 50-minute meeting to prioritise work on the trade deal so it can be completed “as soon as possible” after Brexit, a UK Government official said.
They also pledged to look at areas where trade can be deepened before Britain quits the EU. The discussions ran 20 minutes over schedule and the leaders continued to chat as they walked to another meeting at the Hamburg summit.
But Mrs May said she was dismayed about Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of an international agreement to tackle climate change as the US president was left isolated on the issue at the G20 summit.
The Prime Minister said she urged Mr Trump to rejoin the Paris climate change agreement and raised it with him on the sidelines of the gathering in Hamburg, although it was not one of the items on the agenda in the formal meeting between the two leaders.
She said: “Like other world leaders here, I am dismayed at the US decision to pull out of the Paris agreement and I have urged President Trump to rejoin the Paris agreement.
“The UK’s own commitment to the Paris agreement and tackling global climate change is as strong as ever.”
Challenged on why she had not used her bilateral meeting with the US president to tackle him on the issue, she said: “I did bring the issue of the climate change agreement up with President Trump, I’ve had a number of conversations with him over the time I have been here at the G20.
“When I brought it up with him, what I did was I encouraged him to bring the United States back into the Paris agreement.
“I continue to hope that is exactly what the United States will do.”
Although Mrs May did not raise the president’s decision to pull out of the Paris agreement during their 50-minute bilateral meeting, officials said she brought it up as they walked between engagements at the Hamburg summit.
In the summit’s official declaration, the leaders of the world’s most powerful economies “take note” of the decision of the US to withdraw from the deal, adding that “the leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible”.
German chancellor Angela Merkel said the US president’s decision was regrettable, while French president Emmanuel Macron said he would host a summit in December to discuss the next steps on the agenda.
At a closing G20 press conference, Mrs May underlined the UK’s commitment to the climate change deal.
“Not only will this protect the environment for future generations, it will keep energy affordable and maintain a secure and reliable supply in order to protect the interests of businesses and consumers,” she said.
“We play a leading role internationally and we are delivering on our commitments to create a safer, more prosperous future for us all.”
Critics of the US policy highlighted the splits within the international community, saying there was now a G19 committed to the Paris deal with Mr Trump on the outside.
But conservation groups demanded faster action to end the use of fossil fuels.
Mrs May also held a 20-minute meeting with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, which focused on trade and North Korea’s nuclear missile programme.
Japan’s new trade deal with the EU, signed off on Thursday, “could form the basis” of an agreement between London and Tokyo following Brexit, Mrs May told the Japanese premier.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told Mrs May he wanted to see economic links with the UK deepen now and after Brexit and they agreed to work together to put a “concrete” plan in place, according to a UK Government official.
Mrs May also held talks with President Xi Jinping on Friday over a future deal with China.
President Trump said: “There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries.
“We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly.”
He added: “Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries.”
Meanwhile Russian president Vladimir Putin has hailed his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump, saying he thinks the US leader accepted his assurances that Russia did not meddle in last year’s American presidential election.
Mr Putin added that their conversation could serve as a model for improving ties between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters after the twoday G20 summit ended, Mr Putin said he and Mr Trump had a long discussion about the allegations of Russian interference in last year’s election which have dogged the Trump presidency.
The Russian leader said he reiterated his “well-known” position that “there are no grounds” for the allegations.
“He asked many questions on the subject, I tried to answer them all,” Mr Putin said. “It seems to me that he has taken note of that and agreed, but it’s better to ask him about his attitude.”
Mr Putin said his answers were detailed and covered his discussions on the election meddling issue with representatives of the previous administration, including former president Barack Obama.
But he would not reveal details of his exchange with Mr Trump, saying the conversation was confidential.
“He asked questions, I replied. It seemed to me that he was satisfied with the answers,” Mr Putin said.
The Russian president said that a working group on cyber security he and Mr Trump agreed to create should help prevent such election controversies in the future.
“What is important is that we agreed that there should be no uncertainty in that sphere,” he said.
“We agreed with the US president to create a working group and work jointly on how to ensure cyberspace security, how to ensure the fulfilment of international legal norms in that sphere and prevent meddling in internal affairs of Russia and the US.
“We believe that if we work that way, and I have no reason to doubt it, there will be no such allegations.”
Mr Putin also praised his US counterpart as a strong negotiator who quickly grasps various issues.
“As for relations on personal level, I believe we have established them,” Mr Putin said. “Trump’s TV persona differs sharply from the real man. He is a very straightforward person, grasps precisely what his interlocutor says, quickly analyses and responds to questions or new elements of the discussion.”
The Russian leader said his talks with Mr Trump offered a model for rebuilding Russia-US ties, which have plummeted to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other disputes.
“I think that if we develop our relations in the same way, there is every reason to believe that we would be able to at least partially restore the level of interaction that we need,” Mr Putin said.