4. Statement by the First Minister: Reforming our Union

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:48 pm on 29 June 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:48, 29 June 2021

Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, I offer my view on the first of Mike Hedges’s questions, but it’s my view, and others will have others. I think that the conduct of foreign affairs is best done by member states, as it would have been in the European Union. I think defence and the maintenance of armed forces is best done on a pan-UK basis. And as I set out in an earlier answer this afternoon, I think that a social security system that moves money and resources around the United Kingdom to where need is greatest is also something that’s best discharged in that way. So, there are three examples, and others may have others or more.

As far as regional mayors in England are concerned, I have had a recent meeting with by far the majority of regional mayors. I think Mike Hedges makes an important point: devolution is not about Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It is about England as well. To grapple with the English question and how people in England see themselves within this union is a necessary and very important part of that conversation.