Rally speakers call for a

LORD Dafydd Wigley has called for another referendum before a decision is made on Brexit, because the UK Government is asking the country “to jump without a parachute”.

Lord Wigley, honorary president of Plaid Cymru, was speaking at a Wales For Europe rally in Cardiff’s Queen Street on Saturday which was also addressed by Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens, Cardiff South and Penarth MP Stephen Doughty and nine other speakers.

He told the crowd: “What we are facing is the hardest of hard Brexits. We are heading for a disastrous crash-landing.

“In these circumstances it would be utterly wrong, misguided and pig-headed to take such an irreversible step into the unknown without the full and final consent of the people of these islands.

“With the stakes so very, very high, there must be a final ratification process before the eject button is pressed.

“If, by January 2019, there is no deal sealed, signed and delivered – as now looks increasingly likely – there should be held in that month a confirmatory referendum. If the people vote ‘Yes,’ then Britain should quit the EU on the basis which the Government have recommended. But if the people vote ‘No,’ the Article 50 application should be finally and irrevocably withdrawn.

“Then this whole sorry saga could be put where it belongs – into the dustbin of history and buried in the deepest ocean, never to be seen again. We can then return to the serious matter of building harmony and co-operation in Europe and our industry, farmers, universities and tourist operators can plan a secure future, free from the present unnerving and unnecessary uncertainties.”

Ms Stevens said politicians had to put country before party.

“I didn’t go into politics to sit on the fence,” she said. “I’m not prepared to compromise my deeply-held principles and betray my constituents by letting this weak and incompetent Prime Minister sacrifice the national interest for her and her party’s survival.