8. Debate on NNDM6958 — The Prospects for a Brexit Deal Following the House of Commons Vote

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:24 pm on 30 January 2019.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 6:24, 30 January 2019

I appreciate the exchange rate is more competitive and, therefore, the exports become more attractive, but I also have to remind the Member of the imports that are required in the raw materials. And whilst we've been in a situation where you have six-month deals down the line, we will come to a point where that's going to end and we have to start looking at the changes and costs increasing on the raw materials. So, it's not a win situation. So, in a sense—. Please don't say, 'Oh, well, it's working one way but forget the other way.' It does impose upon us greatly. 

Can I also remind Members that we had a debate yesterday on the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee's reports on 'no deal' preparation, and we discussed very carefully the implications facing us of no deal. And I'm very much appreciative of the Welsh Government's statements last week on the actions they're responding to. But take today's report on health, and we talked about two things on health. Today, the chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham has indicated that operations may be cancelled as a consequence of a 'no deal', and he wasn't saying, 'Look, we're not going to be able to do it, because—'. There'll be some changes. But what he was saying was, 'We can't manage the huge distribution of all the medicines that are being stored. We can't manage the replacement of equipment that is elsewhere.' We buy our medical equipment very much from Europe and if we don't have a deal, how do we ensure that the spare parts and other pieces come in? It is a consequence of a 'no deal' that we will see our constituents bearing the brunt of some of the difficulties. Unfortunately, in many of the discussions on the politics side, we forget the people we serve. The people we serve need better from us and I think the issues of no deal are not acceptable for that.