2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the impact of the EU Withdrawal Bill on Wales, given that the UK Government has not tabled amendments relating to devolution to the Bill? 97

The UK Government has published a number of amendments to the Bill today, but they don’t respond to our fundamental opposition to the Bill, particularly the fact that it doesn’t respect the devolution settlement. We continue to work with the UK Government, with the intention of agreeing amendments to be introduced in the Westminster Parliament, but now, of course, that's at the Lords stage.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the confirmation that the promised amendments that related around the devolution settlement and, of course, clause 11 in particular, have not been tabled in the House of Commons, as promised by a Secretary of State, albeit for Scotland, but on behalf of the whole of the UK Government? I think that's extremely disappointing. It's doubly disappointing because it means we have less time as an Assembly to consider those amendments, and it is disappointing from the point of view of those in Westminster, because, of course, now it's not elected MPs who will be scrutinising these amendments, but the House of Lords, and the House of Lords should be the second Chamber and the backstop on constitutional amendments, not the first port of call for discussions around devolution and the relationship between the constituent parts of these islands. So, it's a really deep and desperate failure by the Westminster Government that is directly related to the Cabinet reshuffle that they've just undergone, because it's directly related to the leaving of Damian Green and the fact that there's been no leadership over the Christmas period to give these amendments force for them to be considered in Westminster.

But the question for the Cabinet Secretary and the Welsh Government must be this, now: why continue to trust the Tories? Why put the constitutional future of Wales in the hands of a Conservative Government that's failing to deliver on its promises—on this occasion, but several times in the past as well? Why not now bring forward your own continuity Bill, previously referenced by the Chair of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, which you have prepared, which you have ready, which you can now use as a belt-and-braces approach to ensure that we do not lose out on the future arrangements as we leave the European Union? It's essential that there is respect paid to this Parliament, as it is becoming, and to the devolution settlement. Tabling main amendments at the last minute that cannot be properly discussed or properly analysed and ascertained of their relevance to our constitutional future cannot be a way to go ahead. I urge you: don't trust the Tories anymore; bring forward your own continuity Bill.

Llywydd, can I begin by agreeing with what Simon Thomas said at the start of his remarks? It is deeply disappointing that the UK Government, having given an explicit commitment to bring forward amendments at Report Stage, have failed to do so. Their narrative throughout the Committee Stage of the Bill was that they were going to listen to what was said and they would reflect on that. And the Secretary of State for Scotland, during part of that debate, said absolutely explicitly that the result of that consideration would be amendments at the Report Stage. So, of course, we are equally disappointed that that has not turned out to be the case.

Let me give the Member an assurance that I have never trusted the Tories on this or any other matter—[Interruption.] Well, if I had, I'd have been very disappointed in this instance, wouldn't I? But, what the responsible Government has to do is to hold the Government to the commitment that it has made, and so I will be writing today to the new Secretary of State, David Lidington, making it clear that we expect the assurances that were given to Scotland and to Wales at the Joint Ministerial Committee that officials would meet urgently so that we could work to what we hope would be an agreed set of amendments to the withdrawal Bill—that those discussions now urgently need to take place. They have been delayed, exactly as Simon Thomas says, because of the exigencies of the Conservative party. Because of the difficulties they are experiencing, the rest of the United Kingdom has had to be held up in these vitally important discussions.

It remains the position of the Welsh Government that we would like to see the withdrawal Bill succeed. We would like to be in a position where there was an amendment to clause 11 that we could agree with the Conservative Government and with the Scottish Government, and we could bring a legislative consent motion in front of this Assembly that we could recommend for approval. But I say again to this Chamber and to the United Kingdom Government that if they're not in that position, if they continue to drag their feet, if they continue to fail to have the necessary discussions, we have a continuity Bill. We have a continuity Bill that we have prepared, that is in a state that is ready to be introduced, and if we can't get a solution by our preferred route, which is to put the withdrawal Bill in proper order, then we will have to bring forward the Bill that Simon Thomas has referred to.

Cabinet Secretary, I agree with many of the comments that you've made, but, of course, we are in a situation now where things are getting so desperate within the Tory Government that they now have a Brexit Minister, Suella Fernandes, who, openly, is saying that it would be great to have no deal—almost the worst possible economic consequence for Wales, but who thinks it would be fantastic not to have any deal whatsoever. You've got a Tory Government that is so desperate in terms of its economic position and its failure to really attract any credibility in its negotiations with the EU that it's actually talking about taking us into a trade deal to join the Pacific trading bloc, something that I'm sure may cause considerable concern as to what its impact might be on the Welsh economy. The crux of the problem, really, is that we have a Government that is actually incapable of resolving these issues.

My concern is where that drift takes us, because it now moves not just to the issue of whether we can get a withdrawal Bill into working order, and if we can't then the issue of the role the House of Lords will play, almost as a constitutional parliamentary block, in terms of upholding the Sewel convention, and the refusal of an LCM by Wales and by Scotland, so a constitutional crisis as well as a democratic crisis and an economic crisis. It's also a question of the fact that the Government is also, through the back door, pursuing other Brexit-related legislation like the Trade Bill, which is equally as bad, if not, actually, almost even worse, because of the way in which it proposes to use the royal prerogative, and the fact that it is still incapable of giving any commitment on the financial red lines that would also be essential in terms of a post-Brexit situation. So, within that environment, where is the basis for trust? It seems to me half the Tory Government are either incompetent and incapable, and the other half are just telling fibs. So, where do we go?

Well, Llywydd, crashing out of the European Union on a no-deal basis would be a disaster for the Welsh economy and for Welsh public services. I don't think we can say that often or loud enough. Any voices at the other end of the M4 that continue to argue that a no-deal Brexit will be good for the United Kingdom really are simply trapped by their ideological view of the world and take no account at all of the evidence that is provided to the UK Government day in, day out, not by the Welsh Government only, but by the Confederation of British Industry, by the confederation of employers, by the directors' association. The evidence of the need for an orderly exit from the European Union, and one that we believe keeps us as close as we can to the single market in a customs union, allowing Welsh businesses and Welsh jobs to be protected—that's the sort of Brexit that we urge the UK Government to pursue.

What we do, and it is a very difficult job, in the way that Mick Antoniw has outlined—we try to align ourselves with and to strengthen the hand of those voices in the UK Government that are prepared to argue for a form of leaving the European Union that puts the need of our economy first. It's sometimes difficult to hear those voices amongst the din of other conflicting views within the Government itself, but our job has to be to put forward the case, which we know is solid and secure, for the sort of Brexit that is necessary for Wales, and to try to get that case heard by those elements within the UK Government that have a more considered approach to leaving the European Union.

Can I concur, Cabinet Secretary, with everything that Mick Antoniw has said, particularly on the Trade Bill, which I think is very worrying, because it just reflects a continuation of the way in which the UK Government approaches this, and most of what Simon Thomas says—though perhaps I might challenge the fact that just because Damian Green left just before Christmas and there's been a reshuffle—? They had a month before that, when amendments were laid down by both the Welsh and Scottish Governments, to actually come and negotiate and set up possible amendments for the Report Stage, and they still haven't done that. So, to me, it worries me, because it shows that they don't really want to discuss with you, and they're going to try and steamroller this through the House of Lords. So, in that sense, are you in discussions with the Lords to look at whether you can re-establish your Welsh and Scottish Government amendments, in the light that the UK Government fails to come up with something sensible? And, also, will you be looking at the continuity Bill to look at the timescales that we need to address? Because that is now getting very, very tight. If we need to get the continuity Bill in place and approved, we have to do it before the parliamentary process completes, and it's getting tighter and tighter all the time, the longer this takes. I'm sure the UK Government totally knows that and is pushing it to its limit as much as possible, so we have to start taking this forward.

I don't trust the Tories in London, and, in fact, I listened to the debate of the Scottish Tories, as I told you on Monday in our scrutiny session. If you listen to that debate, they have no confidence from me—me having confidence in them actually taking this forward. They seem to accept what the UK Government is saying, and do not really address the devolved issues that we need to address—devolved issues that Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament agree with us on. So, we need to get that sorted out, and faith in the UK Government is not there.

Well, I can give the Member an assurance that the Welsh Government is very alert to the timetable issues with a continuity Bill, and we will not not bring forward a continuity Bill because we've missed the necessary timescales involved—I give you that assurance.  

I want to thank David Rees for drawing my attention to yesterday's report by the committee of the Scottish Parliament, signed by all the Conservative party members of that committee, which makes it clear that they will not support an LCM on the withdrawal Bill as it is currently drafted, and that's part of the disappointment they face, having negotiated as they believed—because it was in response to a Conservative Tory, a Scottish Conservative member of the House of Commons, that the Secretary of State for Scotland gave his assurances in what was clearly a choreographed piece of House of Commons activity. Having negotiated that, as they saw it, to find themselves let down by yesterday's announcement, I think you can see that in that report as well.

As far as the Trade Bill is concerned, I share the concerns that Mick Antoniw and David Rees have raised this afternoon. Members will be aware that we have laid our legislative consent memorandum on that Bill, and Scotland have now laid theirs. We repeat the concerns we have in the withdrawal Bill as they re-emerge in the Trade Bill. It's difficult to see how, if we can't get the withdrawal Bill put right, and therefore are able to recommend an LCM on the floor of this Assembly, we will be in any different position in relation to the Trade Bill.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The next question will also be answered by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, and the question will be asked by Suzy Davies.