The European Union Referendum

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 7 May 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:00, 7 May 2019

Well, Llywydd, it's never been the policy of the Welsh Government to ignore what voters say. I don't think that any member of the Welsh Government stood for one party and then ignored the views of the people who voted for them and decided to join another party here on the floor of the Assembly, so I don't think we need many lectures on this side of the Assembly about respecting democratic decisions.

As I said in my answer to the Member, we have always been focused on the form rather than the fact of leaving the European Union, because we respect the fact that there was a vote by people in Wales, and it's a vote that we regretted because we campaigned for the opposite result. I have always believed, as Steffan Lewis, our colleague, I remember said the day after the referendum, that while people in Wales may have voted to leave the European Union, nobody in Wales had voted to take leave of their senses. And it would be an act of leaving our senses to crash out of the European Union, to leave on the sort of terms that the Member is constantly advocating, because those would do profound economic and social damage to Wales, and the Welsh Government will not stand idly by and see that happen.