Boris in pledge to back farmers on visit to Wales
BORIS Johnson will make his first visit to Wales as Prime Minister today.
His schedule will include a meeting with First Minister Mark Drakeford.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said that will “update Mr Drakeford on his government’s approach to Brexit negotiations”.
Before his meeting with the Prime Minister, Prof Drakeford said: “My main message to the Prime Minister remains the same, he has no public mandate for a no-deal Brexit, which would be catastrophic for Wales.
“If the UK does leave the EU, the UK Government must work in close partnership with the Welsh Government to mitigate negative effects on Wales and its economy.”
Mr Johnson will be visiting a farm in south Wales where he is expected to say that farming and food producers will continue to thrive in post-Brexit Britain. Ahead of the visit
Mr Johnson said: “I will always back Britain’s great farmers and as we leave the EU we need to make sure that Brexit works for them.
“That means scrapping the Common Agricultural Policy and signing new trade deals – our amazing food and farming sector will be ready and waiting to continue selling ever more not just here but around the world.
“Once we leave the EU on 31 October, we will have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support farming – and we will make sure that farmers gets a better deal.
“Brexit presents enormous opportunities for our country and it’s time we looked to the future with pride and optimism.”
Mr Johnson is making trips across the UK during his first days in office.
He has already visited Birmingham, Manchester and, yesterday, Scotland.
During the visit to Scotland he announced a new £300m expansion of funding for regional Growth Deals, including for the mid-Wales region, to help “unleash the productive power of every corner of the UK”. This is in addition to funding for a deal in morth Wales, which is already under negotiation.
The Prime Minister insists his Government is now actively preparing to leave the EU with a “no deal” on October 31.
Michael Gove wrote in the Sunday Times at the weekend: “With a new Prime Minister, a new Government and a new clarity of mission, we will exit the EU on October 31. No ifs. No buts. No more delay. Brexit is happening.”
“The EU’s leaders have, so far, said they will not change their approach – it’s the unreformed withdrawal agreement, take it or leave it,” he added.
“We still hope they will change their minds, but we must operate on the assumption that they will not.”
Alun Cairns – who Mr Johnson kept on as Welsh Secretary in his cabinet – said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Prime Minister to Wales.
“Together we will set out our bold ambition to agree a good deal for Welsh farmers as we leave the EU and generate new trade deals to boost our economy.
“We are committed to simplifying processes and setting our ambitions high in order to create opportunities for all communities in Wales.”
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson insisted a Brexit deal can be reached despite ramping up preparations for the UK to leave the European Union without one.
The Prime Minister rejected an assertion from his no-deal planning chief Michael Gove that the Government’s assumption was now that Brussels would not give ground on the terms of a deal.
Mr Johnson said there was a “very good chance we can get a deal” but added that preparations for a nodeal exit were being made with “growing confidence”.
Downing Street indicated that Mr Johnson believed Brussels would blink first in the Brexit stand-off by agreeing to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement to make the wholesale changes requested by the Prime Minster.
On a visit to Faslane naval base in Scotland, Mr Johnson said: “We are aiming for a new deal as I have said and that is what I think we can achieve with good will on all sides.
“But it has been the policy of the Government for a long time now to prepare for no deal, and that is what we are going to do with high hearts and growing confidence, we will prepare for a no-deal Brexit.
“If our friends and partners in Brussels will not change the Withdrawal Agreement, if they will not accommodate the will of Parliament which has said three times now that they cannot accept the backstop, then obviously you would expect us to get ready and that is what we will do.”
A Number 10 spokeswoman said Mr Johnson believed that the European Union would eventually agree to rewrite the divorce deal and remove the backstop, the contingency plan aimed at keeping the Irish border open if no alternative can be found.
“He has been clear that the backstop will be abolished”,” the spokeswoman said.
“He remains confident the EU will stop claiming that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be changed but until that happens we must assume there will be a no-deal Brexit on October 31 and the Government’s central focus is preparing for that.”
The new Brexit war cabinet was meeting yesterday under Mr Gove as the Prime Minister continued his engagements in Scotland.
The Exit Strategy committee – known as XS – comprises six senior ministers and will meet twice a week.
A major advertising campaign – reportedly costing up to £100m – is also planned to raise public awareness of Brexit issues.
The new structure of Government committees has been put in place to ensure Brexit is delivered by Halloween, with or without a deal.
The Daily Operations Committee will meet every weekday in the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms – normally used for the Cobra emergency com
mittee – and will be responsible for overseeing all of the Government’s preparations for leaving the EU, and a possible no-deal exit.
The committee will meet for the first time on Tuesday and a Downing Street source said it was being structured in such a way so that the Treasury would be “a motor for delivering Brexit, not the anchor”.
Downing Street has also announced an Exit, Economy and Trade Committee will be chaired by the Prime Minister and meet regularly.
It will “have a broad remit and will handle write rounds”, particularly focused on Britain’s future relationships around the world.
The XS committee will meet twice a week and will be chaired by Mr Johnson at its next meeting on Thursday.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon condemned Mr Johnson’s plans for the Brexit public information campaign.
After the Daily Telegraph reported that he was planning to spend up to £100m on the advertising, she said: “What a shameful waste of money – and all while Tory welfare cuts are driving people to foodbanks and public services are still bearing the pain of Tory austerity.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was “disgraceful” to spend the money on advertising for a “totally avoidable” no-deal Brexit while “four million people are in deep poverty”.
“Boris Johnson knows no deal will cost jobs but the Tories only care about the wealthy elite who fund them,” he said.
Later yesterday, on his trip to Scotland, Mr Johnson insisted there is “no reason” for Scots to have the second independence referendum that Nicola Sturgeon is pushing for.
Mr Johnson declared the vote in 2014 had been a “once-in-a-generation event” and public faith in politics would be further damaged if a second such ballot was to take place.
His comments came after the Scottish First Minister warned the new Tory leader’s “hard-line” government was driving the country towards “disaster” by pushing for a no-deal Brexit.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has also made it plain she will not support the UK leaving the European Union without a deal in place – with the issue marking a split between the Tory leadership north and south of the border.
Despite that, Mr Johnson promised he would be “doing everything I can to assist” Ms Davidson to become Scotland’s next first minister in the 2021 Holyrood election.
He hailed her as a “fantastic leader of Scottish Conservatives”, adding: “I am lost in admiration at what she has achieved, I am a massive fan of the way she has taken the argument to those who would destroy our union.”
Following her meeting with the Prime Minister at Holyrood Ms Davidson said: “We had an incredibly constructive meeting.
“We covered a number of areas, talking about Brexit, the need to make sure we can get a deal across the line, and I support the Prime Minister wholeheartedly in getting that deal.”