Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 17 January 2017.
I've explain the policy, and that is freedom of movement to work; something close to what the Norwegians have. It takes away the fears of some people that people move to a particular country in order to claim benefits. Whether that's true or not, we know the perception was there. And it is, I think, a reasonable position to take that most people in the UK would accept. Now, I mean, he is right about the situation in Ireland; it does need to be solved. Unfortunately, no-one knows how to solve this. The reality is, and my concern is—and he’s right about the common travel area—but then, for the first time ever in history, there will be wholly different immigration policies on both sides of that border. Ireland, it is true, is not part of Schengen, but it will have freedom of movement. If you want to come into the UK, go into Ireland; you can get into the UK without any checks at all, without any kind of control, and that is the reality of the situation.
In terms of customs, are we then to see the return of the customs posts on that border, and customs posts in our Welsh ports? That issue hasn't been resolved at all—and the effect that would have on the throughput of vehicles and people through those ports. What I fear more than anything else is that, somehow, Northern Ireland gets a better deal in terms of customs than Wales does. That will channel traffic through Cairnryan, and possibly through Stranraer, in the future, at a cost of jobs in the Welsh ports. So, whatever happens, the situation, whether it is the Welsh ports or the Northern Ireland border, has to be the same in order to ensure that fairness of treatment.