Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:45 pm on 17 January 2017.
It’s a position we’ve held for many, many months. The phrase we’ve used is ‘full and unfettered access’. Single market participation amounts to much the same thing. What we have to avoid in the next few months and years is anything that impairs the ability of businesses to export from Wales and therefore makes it more difficult for them to employ people. It’s right to say that GDP needs to increase. The way to do that is to invest even more heavily in skills. As people have more skills, they’re better able to attract investment that leads to better-paid jobs. That is exactly the direction that we want to move in. I—and I’m sure she would have done the same thing, of course—listened to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning. Some of it was welcome. I think the tone was better. It wasn’t as aggressive as the nationalist wing of her party—Theresa May’s party—tends to explain it. There were issues about recognising the rights of the devolved nations, which I welcomed, although there is a contradiction in saying that the British Parliament decides the final deal without the devolved parliaments having their own view as well. Leaving the single market I don’t agree with. This half in, half out of the customs union needs more explanation. And, of course, how you have control over immigration with a large open border has never been explained either. So, there is some clarity, not all of it welcome. Some of it is better from the Prime Minister, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sure that we have the best outcome for Wales.