2. Debate on the EU Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:50 pm on 4 December 2018.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 4:50, 4 December 2018

Well, I did listen very carefully to what David Melding said, of course, and he made a very important point, that, as a democrat, you have to sometimes accept decisions with which you profoundly disagree. But I've never seen it as a rule, Llywydd, that says that you have to wait for a generation in which to fight that good fight a second time, and I don't agree—I absolutely do not agree—with the argument that says that you have to implement a disaster before you can attempt to avert it. If you believe, if you believe—. And of course people have different views, but, if you believe seriously that this will be a disaster for our country, then of course you're not going to say, 'Let's have the disaster first and then we'll argue against it.' Of course you are going to try to avoid the disaster in the first place, and, in many ways, that is what divides parts of the Conservative Party here this afternoon from Plaid Cymru and the Labour Party here. I thought Plaid Cymru had to strain quite hard, Dirprwy Lywydd, to find differences between what we say in our motion and what they have said in the debate. We agree on the fundamentals here, and I say again we are at our most powerful and influential as an institution when we send the most united message we can.

Here is clarity for you. This is what our motion is intended to convey. I said it in opening the debate—that I hope that this National Assembly will send a clear message this afternoon that the deal that has been put forward is unacceptable. That's clear for you, I hope. It is unacceptable. It fails to meet the fundamental interests of Wales and the UK as a whole and it should be defeated. We have an opportunity this afternoon to send exactly that message to the UK Government. I hope that we will do our best to take it together.