5. Statement by the Chair of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee: Brexit Priorities

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:41 pm on 17 July 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 3:41, 17 July 2019

I thank Delyth for her contribution and the points she's made. I think the opportunity costs are something that we should be looking at, because I don't hear any Brexiteers challenging the costs that have been put towards leaving the EU, other than the divorce bill. But there are additional costs behind that. We all talked in the referendum about the costs of being in the EU, but we don't get any figures for how much it's actually costing us now, the amount of money that's being spent, the departmental disruption that's being caused, and those figures. That's something perhaps we will want to ask the Welsh Government at some point, as to the types of figures that they're spending on this, irrespective of the transformation fund, Minister, because I can see you looking there, but the amount of money that you're spending on other activities as well.

I'd also agree with Delyth on the EU nationals—they're still in limbo. We are not a nation of Donald Trumps, where people say, 'Go home.' People come here and are welcome here and want to be a part of here, and we want them to be part of here. I think we've always been a multicultural society. I'll open up. My mother's from Belgium. She came over just after the second world war. We are a nation of people who've always welcomed others, and we should never, ever, ever change from that. If anyone wants to emulate Donald Trump, I suggest you go to America and not be here. 

The future of the union is a very strong thing. We may have different views on what a constitutional convention should be, but at some point, we do really need to get to grips with: what will the union look like? And if we don't do it, what could it look like? We need to get to that position, because I do fear that there are some ostriches in Westminster who keep burying their heads, who do not want to know and don't want to look at what it could look like if we don't take action now.