6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Departure from the European Union

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:58 pm on 29 January 2020.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 3:58, 29 January 2020

I think I'll make some more progress with my speech.

A trade deal will ensure, of course, that businesses in Wales can have a smooth trading relationship and full access to the EU market, but Boris Johnson has also made clear that, even in negotiating that trade deal, access to public services—and this is in future trade deals with other nations, too—access to public services such as the NHS is not going to be on the table in those trade deal negotiations.

Now, over the last 20 years, the Welsh Government has received some £5 billion in EU structural funds, yet Wales has continued to qualify for support because the gross domestic product has remained below the 75 per cent EU average. And this is in spite of the fact that we've seen the accession of former communist countries into eastern Europe with poorer economies.

Dirprwy Lywydd, never has so much been spent with so little to show for it. Even the projects that have intended to have a lasting legacy in Wales, such as the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road, have been delayed by years, and they're over budget by tens of millions of pounds. And it was the poor spending decisions over EU aid—[Interruption.] I'll take an intervention in a moment; as I always do, gracefully.

It was the poor spending decisions over EU aid that contributed to the Brexit vote, with Valleys communities voting the most strongly to leave the European Union because, despite the billions wasted, EU membership hasn't been seen to be helping them or their communities. I'll take the intervention.