3. What are the Counsel General's key priorities in the run-up to Brexit? OAQ53597

The Welsh Government’s priorities remain unchanged. The UK Government must remove the 'no deal' cliff edge and seek the close relationship with the EU that we set out in 'Securing Wales’ Future' with participation in a customs union and the single market together with dynamic alignment with the social, environmental and labour market standards of the European Union.

I thank the Counsel General for that answer, but I want to turn to another priority. On Question Time on the BBC last week and on Sunday night on the BBC Wales Live programme and in conversations in the streets and the cafes and the pubs and clubs across Wales and with families and neighbours and on anti-social media, there is often a harsher, brutal and sometimes a downright nasty edge to the debate around Brexit. Now we know, as we see here today in the Chamber, that passions run high in such a high-stakes debate, but you can actually now touch and feel the anger from those on all sides of the debate—those who are desperate for Brexit, those who are desperate to avoid a cliff edge, those who are desperate to see a second referendum. It's fair to say that some seem happy to talk up the prospect of civil unrest, which I regard as wholly and probably criminally irresponsible. Be careful what you wish for.

In this country of Wales and in the UK, we resolve these issues through democratic means, because, flawed as all our democracies may be, it's far better than the alternatives of anarchy or dictatorship. So, my question to the Counsel General and, through him, to the whole Welsh Government, is this: whatever the outcome of the coming weeks and months, what can we and what can our Welsh Government do to repair the corrosive fissures that have now opened up in our communities, to heal the damaged relationship between the elected and the electorate and to build again a shared vision for the future of Wales behind which all can unite? Now more than ever is the time and the need for that vision, that ambition and that leadership that can unite all the people of Wales.

Well, I think that's a profoundly important question, if I may say so. I think I reflect that the debates around Brexit often take one of two different paths, don't they? One is the high politics of what's happening in Parliament, what's happening in the European Union; and then the other is the question of preparing for different outcomes and the practical aspects in people's daily lives of what they need to do, if they're running businesses and so on, to look at that. And the piece that's often missing is that piece in the middle that describes the kind of country we want to be at the other end of it, and I think it's incumbent on us all in positions of national prominence and leadership to contribute to that picture of how we want Wales to be after Brexit.

Some of that is about the practical aspect. So, the Government is committing funding to support community cohesion co-ordinators around Wales, who are delivering practical interventions to allay concerns, very often, at this point. There's funding that we've made available to manage anticipation-of-hate-crime initiatives and so on—so, the practical things. But there's also that challenge of national leadership for all of us, isn't there, to make sure that we try and conduct the debate in a way that is respectful and recognises that passions can run high and loyalties run deep but also that we are always focused on making sure that everyone who is living in Wales or who wants to come to Wales recognises that we not only are an inclusive society but that we celebrate that value as a fundamental aspect of what we're about as a nation.

I couldn't agree more with the sentiments that were expressed by the Member for Ogmore. Something none of us wants to see is that situation of civil unrest unfolding. In response to the questions from the Conservative spokesperson, which I thought were very legitimate, in fairness, we can argue about what's going on at the other end of the M4, but this is Assembly question time, and this morning two positions have developed within the Welsh Government, and you are the Brexit Minister, and it is important that we understand which is the position that you as the Brexit Minister are supporting. Are you supporting the position of the First Minister, as laid out yesterday, that a second vote would be divisive, or are you supporting the health Secretary, who says a second vote is what's required, and the Member for Blaenau Gwent calls that 'principled leadership'? Because if you read the press statement that was put out by the health Secretary today, he is goading the First Minister to fire him from the Government because he says he's not sure whether he'll be in the Government or not if he undertakes his act on Saturday. So, can you clarify today who is right—the First Minister or the health Secretary? It's a pretty straightforward question. 

And I've answered it several times, with respect. 

No, you haven't. 

The First Minister outlined yesterday Welsh Government policy and I will repeat it again if the Member isn't clear what that is. The health Secretary has said that he supports another referendum. That is part of the Welsh Government's policy position: if we can't get the deal that we've advocated for, then a referendum is the means of breaking that deadlock. 

So, the First Minister's wrong, you say.