10. 6. Debate on the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee Report on the Implications for Wales of Leaving the European Union: Continued

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:16 pm on 28 March 2017.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 3:16, 28 March 2017

Sorry, I didn’t realise you were calling me first. Thank you very much anyway, Dirprwy Lywydd. As Members may remember, it was actually Mark Isherwood who was making his contribution last week. I’m not Mark Isherwood, and even though he’s kindly given me his speech from last week, I have made one or two alterations so that it’s a bit more me than him today. So, any errors are entirely mine, okay.

Personally, I see this report as the first in a series that I hope will inform and scrutinise the actions of Welsh Government as we navigate these rather choppy waters of Brexit. Again, personally, I think it would have served Welsh Government well to have waited for this report to be published before publishing its own White Paper—it was only a matter of a few days—so it could have referenced a genuinely cross-party document reaching cross-party conclusions, especially as the majority of the recommendations were actually accepted in full. I think that might have just armed slightly better the First Minister, and indeed the finance Cabinet Secretary, in those opening conversations with the UK Government regarding our joint negotiating position, rather than a document drawn up by just two parties.