Honda

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:18 pm on 20 February 2019.

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Photo of Mr Neil Hamilton Mr Neil Hamilton UKIP 3:18, 20 February 2019

Well, it's fanciful for the Minister to try to link this to Brexit, because Honda are closing their production line in Turkey, which is inside the customs union. So, this has absolutely nothing whatever to do with Brexit, as the company itself has said. It has everything to do with the EU's policy and the UK Government's policy and the Welsh Government's policy on phasing out diesel. Because since 2006, the demand for Honda's cars of all kinds in Europe has fallen by 50 per cent, and demand for the Honda Civic, which is in question, had fallen by nearly two thirds, and that's directly related to the dieselgate scandal and the legislative changes that have been made as a consequence of that. So, I'm afraid to say that the businesses and individuals who are suffering, or will suffer as a result of this decision can point the finger of blame most closely at the Welsh Government, the UK Government and the institutions of the European Union that are in the process of destroying the market for diesel cars in their own back yard. The demand for diesel cars last year alone fell by 30 per cent. The idea that the decision to close these production lines within the European Union or within the customs union are anything to do with Brexit is nonsense. They're everything to do with the deliberate policies, job-destroying policies, of the EU.