Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his Brexit Minister responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:50 pm on 8 May 2019.
Well, I endorse entirely the sentiments in the Member's question. He, I think rightly, reminds us that there is a very real possibility that 31 October becomes a deferred cliff edge unless action is taken in the meantime. And there has been a significant amount of resource, both financial and time, and actually the opportunity costs that that imposes, which Governments across the UK have necessarily in the circumstances had to take. As I've said before, that is the action of a responsible Government in this place, to take those steps. However, we do recognise, clearly, we would have preferred not to be in a position where we had to do that. As we stand here today, we are seeking to balance our ongoing commitment to making sure that we are taking those steps to ensure as best we can that Wales is prepared with the fact that we have to be clear that the use of resources is proportionate to that work. So, we will be taking the next few weeks to undertake a lessons-learned analysis of steps taken up until the exit day—well, the proposed exit day—of 29 March, so that we understand what we can do better in the coming weeks and months.
There is, however, a risk, I think, that we now look at the next six months and think, 'Well, this is way down the track.' We're already seven weeks or so into that seven-month delay. We might get to the summer recess without a resolution, we will then lose time over the summer, and we run the risk of being back in mid September when we have six weeks to the new deadline. So, I would just encourage people to reflect on that. And I agree with him that energies now must be directed at finding a resolution to this.