Carwyn bids to stop ‘crazy Brexit and wipe-out of farming and steel inWales’
FIRST Minister Carwyn Jones has warned against a “crazy Brexit”, with the Welsh Government claiming a no-deal EU exit could shrink the nation’s economy by up to 10% – the “equivalent of between £1,500 and £2,000 per person in Wales”.
It has published new analysis of the risks Brexit poses to the Welsh economy and is pushing for a greater say on the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU and the world.
The Welsh Labour leader wants the UK to stay in the EU customs union and has warned of “catastrophic” consequences if Britain leaves without a deal.
Mr Jones alleges there is a “nationalist faction in the Conservative Party who basically are separatists” who would be happy for the UK to “drift off in the middle of the Atlantic”.
He further fears the UK government could draw up post-Brexit trading arrangements with other countries that would “wipe out” Welsh farming and steelmaking.
However, he did not back calls for a second referendum on EU membership and instead insisted he wanted to see a “sensible Brexit”.
His Labour administration wants the UK government to take decisions about the country’s future trading relationship with the EU and the wider world “in partnership” with devolved governments.
The Welsh Government is launching a vision for post-Brexit trade and an economic impact analysis from Cardiff Business School.
The trade paper calls for greater flexibility around the length of the transition period after March 2019, when many aspects of Britain’s present relationship with the EU are expected to remain in place.
Mrs May has signalled this will last around two years, but the paper argues it “should stay in place until a longterm deal is agreed and not be timelimited in an arbitrary way, otherwise we risk simply delaying a ‘cliff-edge’”.
Mr Jones said: “Welsh exports are worth £14.6bn each year, with 61% of Welsh exports and just under half of our imports going to and from the EU.”
He warned leaving the EU without a deal and having to rely on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules could “have a catastrophic impact on our lamb sector and on the Welsh shellfish industry, which currently exports around 90% of their produce to the EU”.
The Bridgend AM argues that “leaving the single market and the customs unions would be hugely damaging for Welsh businesses and jobs, with our agricultural, food producers and automotive sectors being particularly hard hit”.
The Welsh Government is pushing for the creation of a “UK Council of Ministers as a forum for consultation on trade issues between the four UK administrations” and in the meantime wants to see “a new Joint Ministerial