UK can remain in single market, insists Carwyn
FIRST Minister Carwyn Jones has insisted there is no need to leave the European single market when Britain leaves the European Union.
And he attacked UK Government Environment Secretary Michael Gove, claiming he had cancelled meetings with ministers from devolved governments and there had been no talks about the future of farming in a post-Brexit UK.
Mr Jones told the BBC the UK could have “full and unfettered access” to the market after Brexit, as he cited the relationship Norway has with the bloc.
Labour’s Mr Jones also said it would be “crazy” to suggest that tariffs on selling goods into the EU after Brexit would not cause problems for British farmers.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Jones said: “If we were not in the single market, we would be having a debate about how to access it, not how to leave it. There is no need to leave the single market, even as we leave the EU.”
Pressed on his views, he added: “I don’t accept that that’s necessary at all. I went to Norway in January, they are not members of the EU, but they have almost full access to the single market.
Meanwhile, Mr Gove promised Welsh farmers’ interests would be taken care of.
Speaking at the opening day of the Royal Welsh Show, he said: “We can offer them [farmers] the fact there’s going to be a comprehensive free trade deal between Britain and Europe.”
FIRST Minister Carwyn Jones has fired a series of warning shots at UK Government Environment Secretary Michael Gove and insisted Brexit does not mean the country has to leave the EU single market.
The Welsh Labour leader claimed that Mr Gove had cancelled meetings with ministers from devolved governments and there had been no talks about the future of farming in a post-Brexit UK.
He warned against a Brexit driven by “nationalists in London” and pointed to Norway as an example of a country which is not part of the EU but – as a member of the European Economic Area – has access to the single market.
This comes as an intense debate is under way within the Labour party about the future relationship with the single market.
Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner has warned that the Norway option would leave UK as a “vassal state” that had to make budget contributions but had “less control over the regulations” than today.
Former Labour Europe minister Caroline Flint claimed last week that “those who aim to keep us in the single market know full well that this is EU membership in all but name”.
Setting out his concerns over Michael Gove’s leadership at Defra and the UK Government’s handling of Brexit, Mr Jones argued a minister responsible for agriculture in England cannot negotiate on behalf of the whole UK.
He told Radio 4 yesterday: “For a long, long time it’s been accepted that [the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs] is the English agriculture department. In reality, agriculture doesn’t exist at a UK level – it only exists either at the level of England, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland or the level of Brussels and London shouldn’t become the new Brussels...
“We cannot have a Defra minister negotiating on behalf of Welsh farming without the consent of Welsh farmers and their government. It’s a fundamental democratic principle.”
Mr Jones also claimed Mr Gove cancelled meetings with ministers from devolved governments.
He said: “One of the first things Michael Gove did when he came into post was cancel his meetings with ministers from the other governments. Now, that’s not a good start in terms of building confidence and building partnership...
“I haven’t had any meetings at all with him. I’ve not met him. Nor has my Environment Secretary.”
Mr Jones also insisted the Welsh Government has not been part of discussions about the post-Brexit farming system.
He said: “There’s been no discussion at all on this. Now, we’ve offered a way forward... We’ve said, look, where powers come back, as they should do from Brussels to Wales and to Scotland and to Northern Ireland, we sit down and we work out what the direction of British farming then should be.
“What kind of frameworks do we want? What sort of rules should there be in place to make sure we can all access each other’s markets – that’s all very sensible but it has to be done in a way that’s done by consent and not by imposition, otherwise you just replicate the European Commission in London and that’s not surely what people voted for.”
Stressing single market access is vital for Welsh agriculture and claiming it would be ‘crazy’ to lose it, Mr Jones said: “Ninety per cent of our food and drink exports go into the European single market. For any rational, sane politician to suggest that tariffs are no problem, to make it more difficult for our farmers to sell in that market, is crazy – it’s one of the world’s biggest markets and it’s on our doorstep...
“If we were not in the single market we’d be having a debate about how to access it, not how to leave it. There is no need to leave the single market, even as we leave the EU.”
And, hitting back at claims Brexit would mean leaving the single market, Mr Jones said: “I went to Norway in January. They are not members of the EU but have almost full access to the single market.
“We don’t have to leave the EU and leave one of the world’s biggest markets at the same time. That’s an interpretation that’s been put on the [referendum] result by the current UK Government, and that makes no sense.”
He argued that although the UK “cannot be a member of the single market” because “we’d have to be a member of the EU to do it,” he added: “That doesn’t mean we can’t
participate in the single market.
We wouldn’t control the rules but we’d have full and unfettered access.”
Describing how Norway had accepted free movement of people, he said: “There’s a three month window either side to look for a job, otherwise you’ve got to leave. That is in keeping with the rules...
“Let’s have a Brexit that’s sensible, not one that’s driven by, effectively, nationalists in London.”
There would be strong opposition to adopting the Norway model in the Labour party.
Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner told the Westminster Hour: “If you do what Norway does, what happens is the very reasons that most people who voted leave, voted to leave – namely to regain sovereignty, to regain control of our borders, and not to pay money into the European budget – all are not achieved...
“To adopt the Norwegian situation would be to become a vassal state, because you actually end up paying money into the EU budget but you have less control over the regulations than you do now with a seat round the table.”
A spokesman for the UK Government said: “We are working closely with all the devolved administrations to make sure we get the best deal for farmers across the UK when we leave the EU. That’s why the Environment Secretary is in Wales today meeting his counterpart in the Welsh Assembly and listening to local farmers and their representatives so they can help shape the future of farming in their area.”
Defra has pledged to work “very carefully” to ensure the “right powers” are passed to the devolved governments. Its “guiding principle” will be to ensure that no new barriers to living and doing business within the UK are created and it says that no decisions currently taken today the devolved administrations will be removed from them. It also maintains that when Mr Gove took office he spoke with his counterparts in the devolved governments, including in Wales.