Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:44 pm on 22 October 2019.
I didn't say anything. I was just sat here listening.
I think what we must realise in a point of crisis like this is that we have come to the time when we must decide. Our EU partners have been very patient. They need to move on, just as we do. I would have much preferred Mrs May's deal. It did seem to me to fully respect the referendum result, which was clear, that the people—unexpectedly, probably—wanted to withdraw from the European Union, but the vote was very close. And also, I don't think all the issues of trade were fully debated and grasped by everyone. I don't grasp them to this day, and I've studied them quite closely. And so there was an element of work in progress, and I thought Mrs May came up with a reasonable way of getting us forward.
The current offer is a harder form of Brexit, if it leads to a transition and then a free trade agreement at the end of 2020. But its present form is just the divorce deal to get us into the transition. And I don't like the fact that the legislation would have to be accelerated. I do take the view that constitutional matters need to be fully examined, but I do remind Members on the opposite benches that you passed at great speed, under the emergency measure, the continuity Act, a year or 18 months ago. So, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, I suppose, in these matters.
What we are facing are the capital terms, really, of a deal. The arrangements for Ireland and what sort of future we might have if we have a free trade agreement—all that, in terms of the future relationship, will be determined in the transition period. It is not rooted in the current legislation, three quarters of which is, of course, what Mrs May proposed. So, I think we need to be very solemn and careful about the point we have reached. Myself, I do think, because of the need to rush the legislation, that people can reasonably say that it needs further examination and, perhaps, the deadline of 31 October should be extended a bit. If the usual channels could agree for two or three weeks, or even four weeks, to thoroughly review the divorce agreement, I think I could be persuaded to agree to that. But the thing is, we all know that those that do not want to leave the EU and respect the referendum result want either to attach a referendum to this Bill or to require us to enter a customs agreement with the EU. And that, I think, would destroy the guts of Brexit, as far as those that support Brexit are concerned. And we must be honest with the electorate that it will do that.