Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 11 October 2016.
Well, I think the word that’s now being used is ‘nudge’. They want to nudge companies in that direction. What I can say is that as far as we are concerned as a Government, we’re not going to do that, nor are any of the bodies that we sponsor. At the end of the day, it’s a matter for companies who they employ. I don’t think it’s helpful to have lists of people that would be used against those businesses for many, many reasons: firstly, because of what I think is the sinister side of it, which is to suggest that if people are not UK passport holders then they are in some way imposters in the jobs that they hold, which is the message that it would actually convey; and secondly, I can think of no more powerful disincentive to an investor than an investor being told, ‘If you come to Wales or come to the UK, you’ll have to tell us how many workers from outside the UK that you will employ’. They don’t have to do that in other countries, and that’s another barrier to investment as far as Wales is concerned. Like me, I know that she shared the same view very quickly and very publicly when the announcement was made. I do not think that creating lists of people from outside the UK with a view to using those people against the companies who employ them is the right way forward for Wales or Britain.