Brexit objections cannot be ignored
THE atmosphere in Westminster has only grown more febrile now that speculation about Theresa May’s future as Tory leader has intensified.
Ministers face the challenge of trying to govern a country, navigate the politics of the Commons, and prepare Britain for its departure from the European Union.
Brexit will have profound consequences for businesses across Wales and the Welsh Government has launched a paper on trade policy and a Cardiff Business School analysis of risks. First Minister Carwyn Jones wants his administration to have not a veto but a voice as trade deals are negotiated with the EU and the rest of the world.
Can the Welsh Government get its perspective heard in a Whitehall when political dramas and dilemmas are erupting on a daily basis? With officials and ministers racing to nail down a transition deal and lay the foundations for Britain’s future relationship with the EU, Cardiff-based ministers will have to fight to make their concerns heard.
Mr Jones is worried about many aspects of Brexit. It is feared that leaving without a deal could damage the long-term prospects of key industries; but striking botched deals with other countries could potentially open Wales up to a flood of cheap imports which could bring pile yet more pressure on our farmers and steelmakers.
However, it is not the case that Wales is off Whitehall’s radar. The realpolitik of Westminster means that ministers cannot afford to ignore the anxieties and objections of their counterparts in Cardiff and Edinburgh.
If the Assembly refused to grant consent to the EU Withdrawal Bill – which is designed to prevent legal chaos on the day after Brexit by putting EU law on the British statute book and giving ministers powers to make changes so it will make sense – then MPs and peers will feel empowered to oppose the legislation.
Equally, there is the possibility that the Assembly and the Scottish Parliament could pass their own legislation to lay claim to powers today held in Brussels. Would Westminster legislate to overturn it, aware of the conflict this would ignite?
The last thing Mrs May will want is a constitutional crisis just as she is striving to unite her party and salvage her legacy by delivering a workable Brexit deal. Westminster is also haunted by memories of the final chapter of the Scottish independence referendum when it looked as if there was a chance the Scots would vote to breakaway; nobody in Downing St – or the Scottish Tory party – will want to inflame nationalist sentiment.
David Lidington, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was in Cardiff yesterday as part of his work to find agreement on the changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill that would win AMs’ consent.
A willingness to listen to constitutional concerns is vital but it is just as important that warnings of how a mangled Brexit could devastate some of the poorest parts of Britain are taken on board.
Wales must not be impoverished. We cannot afford a raw deal. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%