Carwyn urges AMs to refuse May green light for Brexit Bill
THE Welsh and UK governments are on a Brexit collision course with Carwyn Jones taking the first step towards rejecting the fiercely controversial EU Withdrawal Bill.
The First Minister has formally recommended that AMs reject the legislation which gained an initial thumbsup from MPs early yesterday morning.
He is adamant that the consent of AMs is required because of the impact the Bill would have on the Assembly.
In the latest sign of close co-operation between Mr Jones and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Legislative Consent Motions have been tabled in Cardiff and Edinburgh.
The UK Government could press ahead with the legislation if AMs refused to grant consent, but this would trigger a fierce constitutional row – and potentially put new momentum behind the push for a second Scottish independence referendum.
In a memorandum, Mr Jones is unequivocal in stating that AMs should not give MPs the green light to make the Bill law.
He states: “The Welsh Government
will not be able to recommend to the Assembly that it gives consent to the Bill as currently drafted.”
The Bridgend AM warns against an “unnecessary and unacceptable centralisation of powers at the UK level, to which the Welsh Government cannot agree”.
He further cautions that “there will be significant financial implications for Wales from withdrawing from the EU, both in its overall economic effect and in areas of funding currently deriving from the EU”.
A key area of controversy is whether powers today held by Brussels in areas such as agriculture will be transferred to the Assembly or held by Westminster.
Former Brexit minister and Clwyd West Conservative MP David Jones has said farming unions recognise the need for a “UK-wide framework for agricultural policy once we leave the European Union” and that “there is a good argument for saying that some powers should reside at a UK level so that they can be properly exercised”.
Mr Jones states in his memorandum: “The process of agreeing where frameworks are required, and what they should contain, must be one based on agreement, not imposition. But the Bill proposes instead a new set of legal constraints on the competences of the devolved institutions in respect of these matters, which we consider wholly unacceptable in principle.”
The Bill is designed to ensure the UK does not face chaos on the day after Brexit. It would put European Union law onto the statute book but give UK ministers powers to change legislation so it makes sense in a Britain outside the EU.
Mr Jones set out his concerns, saying: “These powers would allow a Minister of the Crown to unilaterally amend legislation that is within the legislative competence of the Assembly... The scrutiny obligation would then be discharged by Parliament rather than the Assembly.
“Those powers could also be used to amend the Government of Wales Act 2006, without any requirement for the Assembly’s approval.”
However, Mr Jones also signals that compromise may be possible, stating: “We accept in principle the need for provisions which convert EU law into domestic law, and pro- visions which create powers to make secondary legislation, including temporary powers to enable corrections to be made to the laws that would otherwise no longer operate appropriately once the UK has left the EU.”
Llanelli Labour AM Lee Waters said: “I think there’s a strong feeling that given the opportunity to retain powers currently held in Brussels and not pass them onto Wales [the UK Government] will do so.”
Mr Waters said that the 2011 referendum on law-making powers for the Assembly had established that “laws that affect Wales should be made in Wales and that is the principle that must be upheld as powers are repatriated from Brussels”.
Meanwhile, Cynon Valley Labour MP Ann Clwyd has made a fresh appeal for Brexit to be scrapped.
She said: “Despite the recent events in the House of Commons over the past few days, there is still time for the Government to change its mind and remain in the European Union. This Conservative Government could do it – and they could do it now.
“The Government would lose face, but there is nothing wrong with that. There is no shame in changing your mind, especially over something as important as this, and for the good of the whole country.”
However, Brexit supporter and Conservative Monmouth MP David Davies has strongly denied that a bid is under way to hoard powers in Westminster.
During the debate on the Withdrawal Bill, he said: “The only powers being grabbed are those being grabbed from Brussels and taken back to London. There is absolutely no grabbing of powers from Cardiff.”