Jobs appeal ahead of crunch Brexit summit
WELSH Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford made a passionate appeal for the UK Government to put jobs and the economy at the “very top of the agenda” when Theresa May sits down with ministers today to thrash out an agreed position on Brexit.
The Prime Minister will meet cabinet ministers at Chequers in a bid to nail down a common position ahead of the publication of a long-awaited Brexit White Paper which will set out the deal the UK Government wants to negotiate with the EU.
Mr Drakeford and his counterpart representing the Scottish Government held talks at the Cabinet Office but he expressed frustration that he had only been allowed to see some “small extracts” of the White Paper.
The Cardiff West AM, who hopes to succeed Carwyn Jones as Welsh Labour leader and First Minister later this year, said: “It’s absolutely important, if they want a considered response from Wales that really can make a difference, then they have to be able to share the raw material with us first.”
Speaking outside the Cabinet Office, Mr Drakeford did not rule out either a future coalition with Plaid Cymru or using new power to raise
income taxes to fund the NHS in Wales.
He said: “Our appeal to them is that they must approach these negotiations with the needs of our economy and jobs at the very top of their agenda. That is the sort of Brexit we need if the harm that would otherwise be done to Welsh jobs and Welsh families is to be avoided.
“Today was a very useful occasion, immediately before that Chequers meeting, for me to lay that on the line again with some ministers who will be at that meeting so that they are left in no doubt at all about what is most important to the people of Wales.”
He said: “I’m afraid our involvement has not been at the level that we would have expected. We have seen some small extracts from some aspects of that White Paper.
“And again today, I was having to say to UK ministers, when they say to us that they need our input, that they need us to be involved in shaping the mandate that UK ministers will discharge in the negotiations, it’s pointless in hamstringing the process by not providing Wales or Scotland with the raw material that we need if we’re going to be able to make those comments.”
Mr Drakeford said: “The key audience for the White Paper needs to be the European Union...
“The White Paper cannot be constructed on the basis that it is there to paper over cracks inside the UK Government and to try and find some positions that they can all artificially rally around.
“This is a document that has to be aimed at the people with whom we will carry out the negotiations, and at the moment I don’t think you can be confident that that is the audience they have primarily in mind.”
Mr Drakeford, who has represented the Welsh Government in Whitehall talks about how power will be distributed across the EU after Brexit, said: “One way or another, Brexit is going to dominate life in politics here in London, in Cardiff and Edinburgh as well. And it will be very important that the Welsh Government is as well equipped as it can be to go on representing the needs, the views and the future requirements of people in Wales.”
When asked if the threat of postBrexit instability meant he would consider an outright coalition with Plaid Cymru, he said: “We have a government at the Assembly that has [a] working majority on the floor but we have very important links with other parties. Our original [Brexit White Paper] was jointly signed by Labour and Plaid Cymru.
“On this issue, I would be very keen to go on having those close working relationships. It is an issue that transcends party politics and a Labour government [is] always willing to reach across the aisle and work with others when there are these fundamental issues at stake.”
However, he would not say whether he would find it easier to work with Adam Price or Rhun ap Iorwerth, each of whom hopes to succeed Leanne Wood as Plaid leader.
“It’s not for me to give any form of advice whatsoever to another party, whether it is their current leader or any other leader,” he said.
The former health minister said: “The right way to fund the NHS across the United Kingdom is for the UK government to provide it with the resources that are needed. They need to turn their back on the failed and flawed policies of austerity...
“If they fail to meet that responsibility, of course in Wales we would look to see a range of levers that we have that we may be able to put to work, but that’s not the proper answer – the proper answer is the UK government is primarily responsible for funding flows across the United Kingdom.
“They need to make sure that Wales, Scotland and England are all properly equipped to provide public services which are so important to people right across Great Britain and to do it in a way that allows us all to prosper.”