‘Wales won’t be intimidated in post-Brexit negotiations’
WALES will not be intimidated out of fighting for its interests in future negotiations with the European Union after Brexit, Mark Drakeford has said.
The First Minister also said the UK Government would have a “fight on its hands” if it decided to retain powers returning from the EU which fell into devolved areas of law.
Mr Drakeford was speaking at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay yesterday, where he said Wales would “remain a proudly European nation” but warned it and the rest of the UK would experience “stresses and strains” in the coming years.
It came as the Prime Minister set himself the target of ensuring more than three-quarters of UK trade is covered by free-trade agreements within three years of Brexit.
Boris Johnson told Cabinet ministers in a meeting in Sunderland yesterday that a “new chapter in the United Kingdom’s story” would start after 11pm last night – the official moment of the country’s departure from the European Union.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “Cabinet discussed the Government’s future trade agenda, which includes seeking a Canada-style FTA with the EU. From tomorrow, the UK
will also be free to begin trade negotiations with countries around the world – with the aim to have 80% of our trade covered by FTAs within three years.”
As an EU member, Britain was not able to strike trade deals of its own accord, but instead delegated responsibility to Brussels.
Mr Johnson said delivering on his “get Brexit done” pledge would now allow him to focus on his domestic priorities and “levelling up” the nation’s regions.
“The Prime Minister began by saying that, today, we start a new chapter in the United Kingdom’s story, turning a page on the division of the last three and a half years and going full steam ahead to bring the nation together and level up opportunity for everyone, right across the country,” added the Number 10 spokesman.
But Mr Drakeford warned: “Brexit may have happened but we are yet to step out into that brave new world.
“And while Brexit may be done in that narrow sense, the impact of Brexit, the form of Brexit is with us for years to come.
“Here in Wales and in the Welsh Government, we will not be hoodwinked by any simplistic assertion that Brexit is now over and done.
“We will not be browbeaten by the assertion that the decision to leave the EU is a decision that brings an end to debate or to discussion.
“And we will not simply be bored into submission by the reality that Brexit is with us not just for today, but for years and years to come.”
During a question-and-answer session, Mr Drakeford said Wales and the other devolved nations should be given a “guaranteed place” in the forming of the UK’s negotiating mandate, and be part of negotiations which depended on devolved matters.
He added: “If the UK Government thinks the way to sustain the UK after the EU is to act unilaterally, to ride roughshod over the responsibilities that have been devolved to Wales – devolved because of two referendums – then I say here, as I’ve said directly to them, they have a fight on their hands.”
Mr Drakeford also warned those who complained about being “rule takers” in the EU would instead now have to be rule takers of the US to trade with it in the future.
While Mr Johnson talked up the UK’s prospects if it seals a Canadastyle free trade deal, European leaders warned that Britain faces a more distant relationship with Brussels if it insists on leaving the EU’s regulatory orbit.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said relations with the UK would never be as close once it is outside the EU.
“We want to have the best possible relationship with the United Kingdom, but it will never be as good as membership,” she said.
Earlier, in a BBC interview, she made clear the EU would battle to protect the integrity of the single market in the negotiations.
Her comments reflect a determination to prevent the UK undermining EU rules and regulations through undercutting.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove, however, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to break with Brussels’ regulatory regime.
“We are moving further away from the orbit of EU rules and laws,” he told the BBC.
A Number 10 spokesman added: “You can only have fully frictionless trade if you accept their rules.
“We have been clear we will not be doing so.”
And in what Number 10 billed as an “address to the nation”, which was released an hour before the moment the UK left the EU, the Prime Minister promised to heal the bitter divisions opened up by Brexit.
He called Brexit “the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act”.
“It is a moment of real national renewal and change.”
Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart, Conservative MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said: “Today marks a new chapter in our history as we deliver on the decision made by the Welsh people and leave the EU.
“We are leaving as one United Kingdom with a mission to build better infrastructure, make our streets safer, clean up our environment and make our Union stronger.
“Together, we will unleash the enormous potential of communities across Wales.”
As Brexiteers prepared to celebrate the UK’s withdrawal at the stroke of 11pm, in European capitals there was sadness at the breaking of a bond dating back 47 years.
In official events, Downing Street hosted a light show, while a new commemorative 50p coin, made at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, entered circulation.
In Brussels, the UK flag was removed from the EU institutions and one Union Flag was to be consigned to a museum.
In Cardiff and Scotland candlelit vigils were planned. In Northern Ireland the campaign group Border Communities Against Brexit was staging protests in Armagh, near the border with the Republic of Ireland.