Carwyn’s plan for Brexit in UK Labour manifesto, hintsWatson
CARWYN Jones’ strategy to keep the UK in the European Single Market while tightening up on migration rules will be a major ingredient in Labour’s General Election manifesto, the party’s deputy leader has signalled.
During an interview with the Western Mail, Tom Watson hinted strongly that the First Minister’s plan – which would see freedom of movement for EU citizens only if they had a job to go to – would appear in the final draft of the manifesto, to be published next week.
Senior Labour sources subsequently confirmed that would be the case.
Mr Jones has argued that many thousands of Welsh jobs could be lost if the UK leaves the single market – a position endorsed by a raft of economists.
We asked Mr Watson, who was on a campaign trip to south Wales, whether Mr Jones’ plan had been endorsed when the manifesto was signed off at a meeting attended by the First Minister on Thursday.
He said: “To say [Carwyn Jones] put the interests of Wales at the forefront of his contribution to the meeting would probably be an understatement. He was fantastic at the meeting. He will be part of helping shape UK thinking on this and I hope that he can be central to that if we win on June 8.
“Obviously those freedom of movement rules that vexed so many people are going. All political parties are dealing with what does a fair immigration system look like postBrexit, and for me that’s about making sure we do have adequate security on our borders, but we also work with businesses to make sure the economy has the right level of migration to benefit the whole of the country.”
When it was put to Mr Watson there was a perception that Labour had been “wobbly” on Brexit, he said: “It’s difficult when you’re a party that wants to stand for all of the country, not just half of the country.
“However, in my own mind I’m pretty clear that we did this right. We campaigned for Remain because we thought it was in the interests of the country, and the majority of people in the country. We respect the democratic decision, but we’ve got a very different view of what those Brexit negotiations should look like. Crudely, we want a workers’ Brexit, not a bosses’ Brexit.
“We want to make sure that our small businesses will be able to expand into medium-sized businesses and be able to trade in the single market tariff free. That should be the number-one focus, and not getting that deal is an unnecessary threat to the future of many, many businesses in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.”
Asked whether there were any policies in the manifesto that might “frighten the horses” because of their left-wing extremism, Mr Watson said: “I don’t think there is anything to frighten the horses in our manifesto.
“It’s a costed programme, but it is quite progressive and it is quite radical – and I think it will capture the imagination of those people that are curious about what our country could look like if we genuinely do have a government that wants to take power and wealth from the few and share it more equally with the many.
“You’ll have seen the leaks about where infrastructure investment is going. If the manifesto published next week does conform to the leaks that you’ve seen, there will be quite an imaginative programme for the utilities that I think we can be proud of.”
When it was put to Mr Watson that there was a dislocation between polls that suggested strong support for Labour proposals like renationalising rail services but low support for Mr Corbyn as a potential Prime Minister, he said: “It seems to me that the Tories are trying to do two things.
“The first is, hide Theresa May from any legitimate scrutiny by real voters and journalists who are prepared to ask probing questions. The other is to try to demonise Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party – and I don’t think that’s fair. I’d just ask people to give us a fair hearing.
“Look at our programme, see what we stand for, look at the track record of hard-working Labour MPs, and make a decision based on all those factors, not just a Tory attack campaign that will last for the next four weeks.”
Asked whether he thought the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) had helped fuel the attacks that Theresa May was now making, Mr Watson said: “No, I don’t. We had all the turbulence last year when we had the second leadership campaign. But it’s my observation that the PLP, as much as politicians can be disciplined, have been focused.
“They respect that our members gave Jeremy the second leadership win and are swinging behind him now. I think they’ll swing behind this manifesto as well when they read the right version.
“There are things that will engage people on their doorsteps and in their communities.”
Asked why Theresa May’s increasingly mocked mantra of “strong and stable leadership” appeared to be getting through in some workingclass areas, he said: “I think I’ve now done 24 visits to different seats in England, Wales and Scotland, and it is true that people have a good first impression of Theresa May, but they also say to me, ‘look, she’s only been Prime Minister for nine months.
“On eight separate occasions she gave a solemn promise that she wasn’t calling a general election because it wasn’t in the national interest.
“And now they’re seeing her being slightly lacking in empathy, a little bit wooden when she’s asked tough questions, and they’re beginning to question what she actually stands for, and whether she is a capable leader as well. There’s opportunity for the Labour Party there.”