Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 28 June 2016.
On the first question, I wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday. I asked him to guarantee every penny that we would lose, to make sure that came to Wales. If that pledge is honoured, then we can proceed with the metro and other projects. If that promise is not honoured, then there are substantial financial gaps in many projects that would benefit the people of Wales. So, I expect that promise that was made so publicly to be honoured. On the issue of Tata, it has created uncertainty—much more uncertainty over the last few days. The difficulty is that the car industry is holding back until it sees what a trade deal looks like. They have said that publicly. Because Tata supplies in the UK so many of the car manufacturers, then clearly the steel industry is also in a situation where it doesn’t know what’s happening. Uncertainty is bad. My view is that article 50 should be triggered sooner rather than later. I think waiting months and months and months for it just adds to that uncertainty. Better that people know where they stand rather than not knowing what’s going to happen for many months and many years. But uncertainty is never going to be helpful in terms of investment: that’s why the process has to begin sooner rather than later, and to conclude as quickly as possible.