Key Priorities in the Run-up to Brexit

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his Brexit Minister responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 20 March 2019.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 2:43, 20 March 2019

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.