CARWYN: BREXIT DEAL DOESN’T PROTECT WALES:
THERESA May’s Brexit plan, which was signed off by EU leaders yesterday, does not protect the interests of Wales, First Minister Carwyn Jones has warned.
In a withering assessment of the deal which was hammered out in Brussels, Mr Jones said it risks new barriers going up which will have a detrimental impact on the national economy.
Concerns over the deal were also shared by Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas and city Labour MP Stephen Doughty, among others.
Yesterday, at a summit in Belgium, and in a move welcomed by the Prime Minister, leaders of the other 27 EU countries endorsed the Brexit deal after 18 months of negotiations.
But Mr Jones said: “It is clear we desperately need a withdrawal agreement to avoid crashing out the EU. However, the draft political declaration does not protect and preserve the interests of Wales and the rest of the UK, and this agreement does not secure frictionless trade and risks new barriers which will have a detrimental impact on the Welsh economy.”
He added: “We have put forward practical, detailed, evidence-based suggestions for a Brexit that would not cause needless damage.
“The Prime Minister has come a long way since her ill-advised red lines, but she needs to recognise we need the closest possible relationship with the EU.
“We will set out our analysis of the deal in the coming days and timetable a substantial debate and vote on the deal before the meaningful vote in Parliament.”
The 585-page legally binding withdrawal agreement sets out the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU – including a “divorce bill” estimated at £39bn.
Yesterday’s sign-off came just 72 hours after negotiators agreed a 26-page draft political declaration calling for an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership” between the EU and the UK in areas like trade, defence and security.
Mrs May said the deal agreed yesterday allows the UK to “move forward together into a brighter future”.
However, the deal has divided politicians, with some saying the deal doesn’t resemble what people originally went to the polls for.
Stephen Doughty, MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, said he would not support the deal tabled by Teresa May. He claims there has been a seachange in opinion since the referendum asking whether the UK should leave the EU back in 2016.
He said: “First of all, this is not a deal worthy of its name.
“All we have is a divorce agreement on a piece of paper and no detail, nothing about the future relationship with the EU after two years of negotiations. No guarantees about our trading and economic future with the EU.
“It’s a sorry state of affairs and a constitutional crisis.”
And Mr Doughty said it was time the new deal was put to another people’s vote – with an option to remain in the EU.
Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas also said he was also not in support of the deal, saying: “Two and a half years ago we had hard-right Brexiteers telling us this would be the easiest trade deal in history.
“Two and a half years later we find that was a lie and it is anything but that. The deal is demonstrably worse than anything we have had in our relationship with the EU.”
He said under the deal, the UK would “become a rule-taker instead of rule-maker”.
He added: “This deal doesn’t fit what people voted for and, as a Remainer, it doesn’t do anything for the prosperity of the UK.
“I think there is only one thing that Teresa May can do and that is to put the question to the people and let them vote on the deal.”
But Brexiteer and Conservative MP for Monmouth David Davies said he would be backing the deal.
He added: “This is obviously a compromise, I would have prefered the Government to have prepared for a no-deal Brexit after Article 50 and leaving without a deal.
“In reality, this hasn’t happened. What this compromise does is get us out of the EU and therefore I accept that and will vote for it.”
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