Labour’s new Brexit policy comes ‘after Welsh political campaigning’
Labour’s decision to come down in favour of keeping the UK in the European Single Market and the Customs Union for a transitional period was taken after intense pressure from Welsh politicians, it has emerged.
First Minister Carwyn Jones, who has warned about the dangers to the Welsh economy of a hard Brexit since the referendum result was declared in June 2016, has worked with parliamentarians like Peter Hain and Paul Murphy to get the British party under Jeremy Corbyn on board with Welsh Labour.
Lord Hain, a former Welsh Secretary who was MP for Neath until 2015, told us: “I am very pleased that, at least for the transitional period, Labour is supporting the idea that the UK must stay in the Single Market and the Customs Union.
“This is absolutely crucial for jobs, especially in Wales but across the UK as a whole.
“If we do leave the Single Market and the Customs Union, we will fall off a cliff edge in March 2019, with catastrophic consequences for the Welsh economy, more than half of whose exports go to other EU countries.”
Lord Hain confirmed that he and Lord Murphy, another former Welsh Secretary, had been involved in putting pressure on the Labour leadership over the issue.
He said: “We haven’t been alone. Across the party there’s a view from members, whether they are young or old, and whether they’re personal supporters of Jeremy or not, that it’s important to stay in the two groupings.
“I’d like the UK to stay in permanently and I’d certainly be in favour of extending the transitional period for longer than the two years being mooted – to at least five years.”
A spokesman for First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “As a Welsh Labour Government, we’ve been utterly consistent in our approach to Brexit – we’ve been pragmatic and set out a course that will best protect jobs and the Welsh economy.
“Central to that approach has been a realistic ambition to secure full access to the Single Market, whilst also securing robust transitional arrangements. We have worked closely and continually with [Shadow Brexit Secretary] Keir Starmer and the Labour front bench, and together we’ve developed a position that will work in the best interests of the country.
“That’s in sharp contrast to the shambolic approach we’re seeing from the Tories in Westminster. Their incoherent actions and statements are actively tarnishing Britain’s reputation on the global stage.”
Confirmation of the change in Labour’s stance came on the eve of the third round of formal Brexit talks in Brussels.
Labour’s new position was welcomed by the TUC, whose general secretary Frances O’Grady said it would give working people “certainty on their jobs and rights at work” and show that Mr Corbyn’s party were “the grown-ups in the room” on Europe.
But Liberal Democrats said the