6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Departure from the European Union

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:04 pm on 29 January 2020.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 4:04, 29 January 2020

I'm terribly sorry, I haven't got a lot of time left.

The UK's new global immigration system will address public concerns over immigration while still meeting the needs of our economy and our public services, including our public services here in Wales.

And, of course, once we've delivered on this referendum result, once we get through Friday, it means that we can start to focus our attention, including here in Wales, on the people's priorities of schools, the NHS, and tackling crime. And this includes recruiting Wales's share of the 20,000 new police officers that are going to be coming into our police forces here in the UK. And you've seen a big boost to the Welsh Government's budget—over £600 million in the block grant, which we can use to address the significant failings that we've seen in our national health service, some of which have been discussed this afternoon, and the fact that our education system is the worst in the UK according to the Programme for International Student Assessment.

On top of that money, of course, we've had an extra £700-odd million in terms of growth deals. Wales is the only part of the United Kingdom—the only nation—that is a growth deal nation. Every single part of the country is covered by a growth deal.

So, as we leave the EU on Friday, it's against this backdrop, a backdrop not just of additional investment, but of record high employment, with key industries like Airbus in north-east Wales already confirming that they see the potential to expand after Brexit. So, my message is this: it's time for the Welsh Government to move on from carping about Brexit, to work collaboratively with the UK Government, to take advantage of the opportunities—many of which I've outlined this afternoon—and to stop fighting Brexit, accept it and to get on with delivering the benefits for the people of Wales.