‘We will forge a new special relationship with our European friends and neighbours’
Today is Brexit Day. Leave supporters tell us of their emotions and hopes. Political editor Ruth Mosalski reports
AT 11PM the UK will leave the EU, bringing to an end a 47year piece of history. In the EU referendum of 2016 Wales voted to leave by 53% with only five council areas in Wales choosing Remain: Cardiff, Ceredigion, Monmouthshire, the Vale of Glamorgan and Gwynedd.
So how does it feel to be a Leave voter as the day finally arrives? And what are the hopes for the future?
Matthew MacKinnon – Former Vote Leave Wales organiser
Matthew MacKinnon was the Welsh director of the Vote Leave campaign.
Now aged 28, he’s director of the think-tank Centre for Welsh Studies. He studied politics and business at university and became a Eurosceptic there, going on to work in the European Parliament, where he says he saw first hand “how wasteful it was”; “I thought we needed to leave as soon as possible”.
He says he is relieved, but there is nothing to celebrate as there is still work to do.
“My greatest hope is for a global Britain brand. We have so much to offer markets and free trade agreements. I think when you’re part of those 28, now 27, member states, your voice sometimes is hard to hear.
“I am from mid Wales, so looking at agriculture, CAP wasn’t working for Welsh farmers so now we can make our own way and hold these people to account and can sack these AMs or MPs not delivering, whereas it was much harder to do that when it was in Europe.
“Now we can make more localised policies for farmers in Wales. CAP was so generic and it benefited some farmers but not others. Larger farms would receive more. Now we can start to really focus on building Welsh agriculture but also rural life.”
Christopher Harries – from Cardiff
Christopher, 30, said his journey towards Leave began after university, when he became Eurosceptic.
“It was solely down to sovereignty,” he said. “The Lisbon Treaty said no bailouts and yet they broke the rules to do that.”
He campaigned for Vote Leave during the referendum and said his feelings are mainly “relief, with a bit of excitement too”.
“I understand that the rules aren’t going to change overnight but it’s been so long since the referendum.”
He said the general election had “cleared the impediment” which had been blocking progress.
“My hope is that this signals the end of the trade bloc itself and that the other EU states will come to realise that the trade bloc itself is a disaster. Economies in Spain, Greece and Portugal, they have all been decimated by it.
“I love Europe itself, and have spent a lot of time on the Continent, but this will pave the way for the other states to realise we can work together on big issues without giving up sovereignity. This is not a rejection of Europe itself but of a federal Europe.”
Peter Harris – from Newtown, Powys
In 1975, Peter Harris, now 73, voted not to stay in the European Economic Community, and has been a vocal Eurosceptic since.
“I felt we were lied to by Ted Heath,” he said.
During the 2016 referendum he campaigned across Montgomeryshire and expected a Leave result.
“The numbers we were getting were that 90% of people wanted to leave,” he said.
His greatest hope looking forward? “Primarily the fact we should save a lot of money because the amount we put in subsidises the EU. We’re the second-largest contributor and we can use that to invest in our own country on things like better hospitals, more hospitals and more medical staff and better schools.”
He says he’s “optimistic” about the future.
“A lot of the talk at the minute from the EU, and this week from the Irish Prime Minister is bluster because they need us more than we need them.”
Neil Hamilton – Ukip Assembly Member
“Brexit is just the beginning. It is the golden opportunity to abandon the political establishment’s pessimism which has plagued Britain for decades. Leave voters have been browbeaten by politicians in Westminster and Cardiff Bay for three and a half years, but at every election since the referendum they have thumbed their noses in an act of defiance to the nay-sayers.
“Now that Brexiteers have finally achieved a form of Brexit, I will be championing a truly global Britain, unafraid to step on to the international stage filled with opportunities beyond the Euro-fanatic’s narrowmindedness.
“Since the end of last year the Conservatives have adopted Ukip policy after policy. However, they must be held to account and deliver on what they have promised – they won’t be forgiven by the British people another time.
“Above all, the UK Government must honour the instructions given by the British people in the referendum. There must be unequivocal supremacy of British law and immediate action on uncontrolled mass immigration from the EU. We must prioritise small and starter business
es, back farmers and their internationally acclaimed produce, democratise the health service and return the confiscated rights to British fishermen.
“As we enter the Brexit decade it must be the beginning of a new politics, based on optimism and the liberty of the individual. In numerous elections the British people have demanded a return to common sense, free from political correctness and its negative undertones.
“Since my election in 2016 the Assembly has proven to be a hotbed of defeatism, out of touch with the Welsh people and in total denial on Brexit. We will make 2020 the year when the very existence of the Cardiff Bay talking shop is called into question.”
David TC Davies – MP for Monmouth
The staunch Leaver said he is “delighted” Brexit is happening. His hopes are for a trade deal.
“I am hopeful that we will secure a trade deal with America and the EU,” he said. “It’s not necessary for us to do that but it would be good.
“It must be a deal in our interests. We need to be tough and show we will walk away if necessary.
“At the start of negotiations, people state what they want and they’re not interested in what anyone else wants. But it will all be a bit clearer in a few months’ time.
“Now we have carried out Brexit there’s no going back. In years to come we will look back and say this was a pivotal moment
“For 40 years we have been tempted into a federal state and we’re now not going to be part of that. So, freedom, that’s my hope”.
Louise Evans – from Cardiff
Louise, 49, became interested in the EU during the referendum and began learning about the issues around the EU. She decided to back Leave.
“I was aware of the EU but I wasn’t completely au fait with it, so I started reading up on it and read and watched a lot on it.”
She’s described the months since the vote as being “frustrating” because of the changes to the dates. “Although the Boris Johnson Withdrawal Agreement isn’t perfect, it’s much better than Theresa May’s was and we have to start somewhere.”
Her greatest hope for the future is that more money will remain in the UK.
“We will be far better off when you look at the bigger picture. The salaries of the MEPs and staff in the EU, we just have to be better off. We put a lot more in than we get back.
“I drive around the south Wales Valleys a lot and see the signs with the EU flags, but you talk to those businesses and it’s only ever been a small subsidy. EU money isn’t impacting these small towns in south Wales. So I’m hoping that more money can now be allocated to them.”
Virginia Crosbie – MP for Ynys Mon
“Our departure from the European Union marks an historic day in the country’s history for a number of reasons. Not only should we be incredibly optimistic about the opportunity for future global trade deals, but proud that we finally have delivered on the democratic mandate of the people of Wales – which was wilfully ignored by so many in Parliament.
“As we leave the EU, my constituency of Ynys Môn has an incredible opportunity to grasp those trading opportunities with both hands. I committed during the election campaign to fight hard to secure international investment here post-Brexit and I will do just that.
“While we may be leaving the EU, we are not leaving Europe. We will forge a new special relationship with our European friends and neighbours. The future for the UK – and indeed Ynys Môn – outside the EU, is incredibly bright.”
David Jones – MP for Clwyd West
“Global Britain shouldn’t just be a strapline, it should mean something. I do think that we need to be exploring independent foreign policy.
“The Palestinian ambassador was just telling me we have a crucial role in the Middle East, I think we should be doing that, we have got a huge amount of influence.
“I sometimes think we need to realise how powerful we are.”
He said contrary to fears Britain will lose its global role after leaving the EU he believes the reverse is true.
“At the moment, we’re drowned out by 27 other member states, we’re regularly outvoted in the European Council, in fact, the UK is the one that’s most often outvoted.
“It’s impossible for us to have an independent policy on a lot of things and increasingly that extends to foreign affairs.
“I think we’ll be much more influential. We’re a big economy and an important country and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. We’re the most important of the armed forces, certainly in Europe but one of the strongest in the world, as well as a nuclear power and we have a lot of clout.”