Economic Links Between Wales and South-west England

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:56 pm on 18 September 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:56, 18 September 2018

Well, there is no difficulty with working cross-border. Everyone else does it. If we say we're not going to work across the border, it's a sign of an inferiority complex. And so we are more than happy to work not just with colleagues in England, but in Ireland as well and, indeed, with our European partners, who are incredibly important to us. We are an internationalist Government—we look out, and that means looking beyond Wales's borders in every way. What this can't be, though, is a power grab by the UK Government to set up some kind of cross-border body that escapes the control of the Welsh Government. That we will not put up with. One of the problems is, of course, that there's no equivalent level of Government in England that we can talk to, in reality. There's only the UK Government. The mayors don't have the powers that we have got, and it's a shame for people in England. And we saw this: there was a great opportunity for us when the regional development agencies went—all our competition disappeared. It was great news for us; it was not good news for the English regions. So, yes, of course we will work with partners outside Wales, but there has to be a defined way of doing that that doesn't impinge on the powers and responsibilities of the Government and the Assembly.