Stark Brexit warning from University VC
THE Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University has made an astonishing intervention in the Brexit crisis, writing to staff on the eve of St David’s Day to express his fears for the future and calling for a new referendum.
Professor Colin Riordan wrote: “I can barely believe that as I write this email at the end of February 2019, with little more than a month to go before the UK is scheduled to leave the EU, we are still at an impasse on Brexit.
“The decision-making process in our political system seems to have broken down, and not even our own government is able to tell us whether we will or will not be having to deal with a series of major disruptive issues in a few short weeks.
“It is time for Parliament, and for the political parties, to put the national interest first and acknowledge that the huge disruption and uncertainty that a no-deal exit would cause would be intolerable in a modern state.”
Meanwhile Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said: “Outside of the Westminster bubble... people are seeing, laid bare, [Parliament’s] inability to act in their interest. It feels as if we are watching Britain break.
“Wales remains an afterthought to Westminster. Our nation’s map is littered with the cancelled infrastructure projects and forgotten promises of this Westminster government.”
THE chaos in Westminster over Brexit is evidence of “Britain breaking”, according to Plaid Cymru’s parliamentary leader.
In advance of a St David’s Day debate in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts said the British state had repeatedly shown that it does not think Wales is worth it.
The MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd said: “This St David’s Day we are just weeks away from era-defining decisions, that will be made in Westminster, about the future of the four nations of the UK. Much though I respect St David’s advice to do the little things, now is the time to face the greatest issue of our age.
“Outside of the Westminster bubble, however, people are talking about Parliament in a different way. They are seeing, laid bare, its inability to act in their interest. It feels as if we are watching Britain break.
“Wales remains an afterthought to Westminster. Our nation’s map is littered with the cancelled infrastructure projects and forgotten promises of this Westminster Government. From rail electrification to tidal lagoons, the British state has repeatedly shown that it does not think we are worth it.
“This St David’s Day we celebrate our nation, its culture and its people. We will hear that Westminster continues to recognise Wales’ contribution to the United Kingdom. However, we simply cannot deny Westminster’s contribution to Wales still very much leaves us wanting.”
Referring to job losses in his constituency, Ynys Môn Labour MP Albert Owen said: “There is a pattern developing, whereby international companies that have their bases across continental Europe and the United Kingdom are consolidating their workforces and their businesses in the European Union, because they know that the Single Market delivers.
“They are very polite about it and say that this is not simply down to Brexit, but I say to the Secretary of State that we cannot have companies based in countries such as Japan, which have direct agreements with the European Union, pulling out of Britain like this. Our workforce, our commitment and our end product are all good, but there is a fault, and that fault is the uncertainty of Brexit, pure and simple.”
Mr Owen went on to express concern about the prospect of Northern Ireland getting a competitive advantage over Wales under the Brexit deal proposed by the Prime Minister.
He said: “I have been arguing in this House for more than two years about the Irish dimension to Brexit and its effect on the port at Holyhead. We are coming up to the eleventh hour and we are still arguing about the Irish backstop. If we treat one part of the United Kingdom – that is, Northern Ireland – differently and allow it to have alignment with the Single Market and the Customs Union, that will have an impact on Welsh ports as well as on ports in Scotland and England. Those countries will lose out as a consequence.
“I want this message to go out from Wales to the Prime Minister – look at what is happening in Wales, listen to the Welsh Assembly and to Welsh MPs, do not be blinkered and do not pander to one side of your party. Start speaking up for Wales, because it is an integral part of the United Kingdom.”
David Hanson, the Labour MP for Delyn, also expressed concern about Brexit, saying: “Whatever we end up doing on Brexit, the Secretary of State for Wales has an absolute duty to make sure that a no-deal Brexit is ruled out. He will have before him the evidence from Airbus near my constituency, which employs 14,000 workers across the United Kingdom, thousands of them in north Wales. Katherine Bennett and Tom Enders, two senior Airbus officials, have warned about the consequences of no-deal.”
Secretary of State Alun Cairns defended his Government’s record, saying: “I would point out that Wales has a fair funding settlement – there has been enhancement on the funding settlement – and we now have a full lawmaking Assembly that is to become a Senedd.
“Major upgrades of the railways are taking place, with investment both in south Wales and in north Wales, and a will and a commitment to open new stations.
“Unemployment is at record low levels and economic inactivity rates that have been stubbornly high for decades are now better than England’s. A remarkable transformation has taken place in the Welsh economy and the manufacturing sector is growing faster than in any other part of the UK.
“Without doubt, one of my proudest moments has been the abolition of the Severn tolls, so people do not have to pay to come into Wales any more, which provides a great opportunity to bind together the United Kingdom.”
On Brexit, Mr Cairns said: “The best way to secure a smooth exit from the European Union and to act on the instruction of the referendum is to support the Prime Minister’s deal. When that debate comes, I hope that Members will look at themselves and think long and hard about the risks they are taking with the Welsh economy and the UK economy if they vote against the Prime Minister’s deal, which offers us a smooth exit from the European Union and access to the European market, while confirming our position as an independent trading nation.”