9. Will the First Minister provide an update on discussions with the UK Government on Brexit? OAQ52334

Yes. We continue to use a range of channels for discussion, notably the Joint Ministerial Council plenary and European negotiations—EN. Most recently, at political level, there was the first meeting of the ministerial forum on EU negotiations on 24 May.

Thank you. I'm sure that the First Minister will have read, with concern, details of the UK Government's plans for a so-called 'doomsday' Brexit, under which the second-worst scenario of us leaving the EU without a deal would lead to the port of Dover collapsing, food shortages, fuel shortages, and the NHS running out of medicines within two weeks. Can I ask the First Minister what discussions you've had with the UK Government about these so-called 'doomsday' plans? And given that the UK Government's handling of Brexit is becoming more shambolic by the minute, what assurances can you offer that we will not encounter disruption to key services like the NHS in Wales?

The problem we have is that we don't have a sensible Government in London. We don't even have a Government that is absolutely determined on a hard Brexit, and absolutely determined to move it forward, come what may, with a majority in Parliament. What we have is a mess—an absolute mess. David Davis returned from wherever he's been for the past few months to complain about Northern Ireland. A resignation, again, this morning, of a Government Minister in London not happy with the direction that the Tory Government is taking. We have a Prime Minister who is in a position of grave weakness, who has to appeal for unity within her own party because of the backstabbing that's taking place. We have our own Foreign Secretary thinking that Donald Trump should lead the negotiations and not his own party leader—not his own party leader. You could not make this up. If I was a comedy writer, people would think this was too far-fetched. So, we do need something more sensible, certainly, in London—there's no question about that—because it's in no-one's interest for this chaos to continue. So, we've made the point, rationally and calmly, that people's views have to be respected. The referendum's result has to be respected, but it has to be done in the most sensible way possible.

There are those who support Brexit who say, 'People voted in the referendum for the hardest Brexit possible.' That's not what the elections last year taught us at all. People didn't vote for a hard Brexit. They were offered the opportunity by Theresa May to vote for a hard Brexit, and they said 'no', and that is the reality of the democratic position. When I see newspapers in London saying that this is some great betrayal, they forget the result of last year and what people actually voted for last year. My belief is, what people want is the result of the referendum to be respected and for Brexit to happen, but they want it to be done in the most sensible and rational way possible and not in a way that damages the UK.

I have to say, one of the things that troubles me is I don't believe the ports are in any way ready for a hard Brexit in March. We will then see delays at the ports. We will see lorries, not just in Dover but potentially in the Welsh ports as well, backed up down the road, nowhere to park them, delays, goods going off—perishable goods—and what, then, will the UK Government do? They'll blame the ports. They'll blame the ports—that's what they'll do. They'll say, 'Well, it's your fault; you didn't invest properly. It's not our fault, guv; it's the fault of the ports.' Or they'll come to us and say, 'The delays in Holyhead and Pembroke Dock and Fishguard are your problem because the Welsh Government controls the ports.' Well, that's not good enough. If there's going to be planning for a hard Brexit, which is happening—and, in some ways, you've got to understand why that's happening; you know, prepare for the worst—then there has to be money on the table to help our ports to deal with the inevitable consequences and delays that will actually occur. That hasn't happened. Instead, what we're getting is nothing happening, and the potential, I think, for ports to be told, 'Any delays are your fault.'

I thank the First Minister for his statement. Of course, it would be for the UK Government to decide what, if any, restrictions or customs it wanted to put—or not put—on goods coming into the country, but, First Minister, you made it clear earlier that your Government still supports staying in a customs union with the EU, and staying in the single market. Previously, you have suggested that you respect the referendum result and there shouldn't be a second referendum. However, you're no longer able to claim that that is the position of your Government because you allow Ministers to speak out and say that, notwithstanding the vote of Wales and the UK in that referendum, we shouldn't have that and they should be made to vote again. Do you not understand that if the position is that there has to be another vote on any deal, all you do is incentivise the European Commission not to offer any attractive negotiating arrangement?

Why does he hold the electors of Britain in such contempt? People have decided what's going to happen; they have an equal say in how it's going to happen. They're not excluded at that point—'Thanks, you all voted; from now on, you're an irrelevance.' That's what he's saying to the people of Britain. I don't advocate a second referendum on the issue. The referendum's been. His party did. His party did, after the 1997 referendum. They went into the general election in 2005 with the commitment for a second referendum on devolution. So, they were bad losers—bad losers on that side. I accept the result that we saw two years ago, but surely it is right that the people of Britain should decide how Brexit happens. It's not for the elites in the UK Government to decide how it happens; it's for the people. I don't see why there is such fear in Westminster amongst the Conservative Party of allowing people a say on how Brexit happens. People have decided the direction; they have every right to determine how the car is driven.

Thank you, First Minister.