Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for her supplementary. I think she hits the nail on the head. Our health services and our care services, perhaps in particular, depend on EU citizens to provide an essential service, often to very vulnerable individuals. She will know, I know, of the work that we've been doing to understand the dimensions of that. We've identified, and I've mentioned in the Chamber...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for her question. The Minister for Health and Social Services and I are in regular and frequent contact, as is the case with all Ministers, to discuss the Welsh Government's responses to the range of distinct and unwelcome challenges that Brexit poses to Wales.
Jeremy Miles: Yes, I thank the Member for that question. I don't know, beyond the context of Brexit, the historical context of that, but he'll know of the work by Cardiff Business School that is being supplemented at the moment in relation to some of the issues identified in his question. We've also made available funding through the EU transition fund to support research projects, to understand with a...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I thank the Member for that important question. Her question reflects the fact that, whereas decisions may be taken in other parts of the UK—she mentioned Honda; previously Nissan, of course—the impacts of that can be felt in Wales and indeed in other parts of the UK. We've absolutely, as a Government, made representations to the UK Government in the context of their UK-wide...
Jeremy Miles: Direct business engagement is ongoing with companies on supply chain issues. We have also commissioned research to further understand the complex European and global supply chains operated by businesses in Wales.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I endorse entirely the sentiments in the Member's question. He, I think rightly, reminds us that there is a very real possibility that 31 October becomes a deferred cliff edge unless action is taken in the meantime. And there has been a significant amount of resource, both financial and time, and actually the opportunity costs that that imposes, which Governments across the UK have...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. We welcomed the report from the Wales Audit Office, as she will know. We felt it was a recognition that there were significant amounts of work happening across public services in Wales to deal with the unwelcome consequences of leaving the European Union. She's right to say there was at that point, in the report, a reference to variability across public...
Jeremy Miles: Welsh Government is working closely with local government directly and through the Welsh Local Government Association to help authorities plan to mitigate and respond to the damaging impacts of a 'no deal' Brexit. The Government strongly believes that the United Kingdom should not leave the European Union without a deal.
Jeremy Miles: I would say that the broader narrative about people not respecting the referendum is part of a very troubling and damaging broader narrative of betrayal. I would just say to the Member, it doesn't reflect well on any of us in this place to be feeding that narrative. We are in a time when the role of politicians is not to stoke that up; it is to recognise what we have failed to recognise and...
Jeremy Miles: I thank you for pointing out the discussions leading to the decisions of the national executive committee in my party. You mentioned differences of opinions there—I think that's pretty bold, given the disarray of the Conservative Government at any opportunity in Parliament over the last few weeks and months to maintain any semblance of unity in relation to all of these fundamental...
Jeremy Miles: As the First Minister explained to you yesterday, we published in 'Securing Wales' Future' a clear policy that recognised the results of the referendum by setting out a blueprint for our future relationship with the European Union, which protects the interests of Wales consistent with being outside the European Union.
Jeremy Miles: I’m grateful to the Member for being clear that there is a desire to co-operate. I agree with her that co-operating on 'Securing Wales' Future' has been something that was very important in showing the way forward in that context. It appears now that the policy of your party has changed in that context. From our perspective, if that’s possible, that can help us to solve the problem. But...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for the question. As I said last week, we have called on the UK Government, whose responsibility this is, to prepare for a potential referendum if it is to break the logjam. The First Minister has also written to the Permanent Secretary to ask what the Welsh Government could do to facilitate this.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I reject the outrageous allegations the Member just made in the Chamber. I think that the allegations of mismanagement are completely inappropriate—completely inappropriate. The opportunity that the work of the steering group represents, and indeed the work of the commission that's been given to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, is to seek the best possible...
Jeremy Miles: I don't accept that at all. I think you will have heard the exchanges earlier in the Chamber on the benefits that have accrued to people in Wales in terms of skills enhancements, in terms of productivity, over the last decades. I think that the Member's efforts could be better focused in seeking to persuade his friends in Westminster to live up to their commitment to ensure that Wales doesn't...
Jeremy Miles: Yes. That has been meeting under the chairmanship of Huw Irranca-Davies. The objective is to advise the Welsh Government on how, in future, we can deploy regional investment in Wales, learning from the experience of using those funds during our time as members of the European Union, and to find a means of aligning that with the sectors that have benefited across Wales, and to do that in a way...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I thank the Member for her advice on how to answer the questions. I think perhaps sometimes it's easy to lose track of the number of questions in any particular response. But I will do my best to answer the key questions at least. In relation to her description of the Welsh Government's position, which remains, as I will say again, as described in the policy document agreed with her...
Jeremy Miles: Well, the Member rightly highlights the UK Government's own economic analysis, which demonstrates significant damage to the Welsh economy, as to the UK economy at large. We have been clear that our view as a Government is that the Welsh economy is best protected as part of the European Union, but the policy described in 'Securing Wales' Future', which describes the kind of post-Brexit...
Jeremy Miles: Yes, we are within a period of austerity. Those cuts made by the UK Government have been felt in the lives of the people of Wales, as they have in the lives of people across the UK. We have sought, as a Government, to ameliorate that as far as possible by making different judgments with diminishing budgets, but we know that the impact of austerity on many of our communities will have been a...
Jeremy Miles: Well, both the Member's question and that of Hefin David has at its heart that question of ensuring that the Welsh Government priority to ensure community involvement in local renewable projects is enhanced, and that remains a priority for the Welsh Government, needless to say. In relation to future schemes, we obviously wish to ensure that we have access to the same level of funding, and...
