Economic Links Between Wales and South-west England

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 18 September 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:59, 18 September 2018

Well, I don't think building an economic Berlin wall is the answer, if I'm honest. The reality is that the economic and commercial flows go from west to east. That doesn't have to interfere with our identity. That's something that we should be proud of. That doesn't mean that it's a threat to Wales. If we see it that way, we're victims of our own inferiority complex. There are much better links to the north than there ever were. We've got a flight twice a day and the trains run every two hours; when I came here in 1999, there was no train going north at all—there was no direct train. That has improved. We've seen incremental improvements on the A470 as well, but, you know, a road is not the answer as far as north to south is concerned. But really, not even the unionists of Northern Ireland would say, 'We don't want to work with the Republic'. They see the value of cross-border working; they don't see it particularly as a threat to themselves. We should embrace it—control it and embrace it—and make sure that it works in favour of our own people.