Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:50 pm on 7 February 2017.
Well, I think you've rather amplified my anxiety, rather than done anything to calm it. [Laughter.]
Can I just say this? I think some form of mechanism, perhaps a bit like the British-Irish Council, needs to occur between the UK Government, with the devolved Governments involved, and the EU institutions. I think that type of process would send a very positive signal that we do want to be effective partners in areas of common interest.
Can I conclude just on a few Welsh interests? We are vulnerable. There's absolutely no doubt about that, just because of the amount of resources we've had from the EU and the reliance of our own industry on European markets. We need to acknowledge that and do as much as possible to protect the envelopes of resources that we currently get from EU sources, and many Brexiteers have said quite expansive things there, and, you know, I can assure colleagues here that I will remember that and be arguing with them on their moral responsibility. We need maximum access to the single market, the lowest possible tariffs, and I hope the flexibility will be there to achieve that.
And finally, we need to have this awareness that there are opportunities there as well that could play to our advantage, too, but we have to face the realities of our challenging situation as well.