The United Kingdom Internal Market Bill

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his law officer responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 3:03 pm on 20 October 2020.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 3:03, 20 October 2020

Well, I think anyone who is interested in the success and future of the union should be very alarmed by the contents of this Bill, because I think it does, as much as anything does, strengthen the cause of independence in all parts of the UK, and that is not an outcome I wish to see. So, I think his reading of the Bill is, bluntly, fundamentally naive.

We as a Government believe in the internal market; we think an internal market is an effective way of protecting the Welsh public, Welsh consumers, Welsh businesses and the economy. So, we think that that is an endeavour in which we should all engage, as four Governments, to make sure that there aren't unnecessary barriers to trade in the way that the Member's question suggests, but we already have a mechanism for doing that, which is the common frameworks mechanism that enables Governments to have different policies in different parts of the UK, consistent with delivering the internal market. It's worked very effectively until now. There is no reason to destroy it by giving a very heavy-handed legislative way of circumventing it.

I think that this Bill will do more damage to the UK and more damage to the internal market of the UK than the constructive, moderate, reasonable and deliverable proposals that the devolved Governments have put forward in replacing it.