3. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of any implications for Wales of the recent announcement by the UK Foreign Secretary regarding the intention to legislate to change the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol? TQ626

Thank you for the question. We need more detail about these proposals in order to assess their impact. We have a direct interest in anything that affects the way in which goods flow between Great Britain and the island of Ireland, and UK Ministers need urgently to engage with us on their proposals.

Counsel General, the announcement by the UK Foreign Secretary raises clear concerns on the flow of goods between Great Britain and the island of Ireland for our west-facing ports, particularly for Holyhead, and for Welsh businesses more widely. And we ignore at our peril the paramount importance of safeguarding and protecting the Good Friday agreement. We note the will of the UK Government to unilaterally rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol. It's a binding international agreement, which they negotiated themselves, they agreed themselves, they sold to the UK Parliament and to the British public as part of the great oven-ready deal, and they also guaranteed no checks between Northern Ireland and the UK at the same time. And of course the undoing of the protocol undermines the reputation of the UK as a trusted international partner. So, Counsel General, was the Welsh Government party to any discussions on the UK Government's announcement to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol? And, bearing in mind the importance of this directly for Wales as well as for the UK as a whole, has the UK Government agreed with the request from the First Minister to discuss this urgently at a meeting of the inter-ministerial group on UK-EU relations?

Thank you for that supplementary question, and, of course, you do raise some significant issues in respect of potential breaches of international law, and those must not be underestimated. The First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister on Monday 16 May to express his concerns about the proposals to introduce legislation to introduce parts of the protocol. The Minister for Economy had a call with James Cleverly on Monday evening, at which Minister Cleverly provided some information about the statement, but there has been no other substantive discussion. We recognise that the protocol is complex and a sensitive matter, and that is why it is only through dialogue, not through unilateral action, that a mutually agreeable solution can be found.

I think it is also—and it comes out of the supplementary question—essential that the current position is discussed with devolved Governments in relation to Wales specifically. We do have a direct interest in anything that affects the way in which goods flow between Great Britain and the island of Ireland and on matters that might affect Welsh businesses more widely. In particular, we do need to understand what their proposals will mean for imports from the island of Ireland for which we are developing the infrastructure necessary for SPS checks. So, for that reason, the First Minister called in his letter for further ministerial discussions, potentially at a meeting of the inter-ministerial group on UK-EU relations. We've not had a response to that yet. The last thing we really need is for the current cost-of-living crisis, on which the economic impacts of Brexit are already having an impact, to be further exacerbated by a trade dispute between the UK and its most important trading partner. 

I think it is important that there's further dialogue between the EU and the UK, and I think it's also very important that the UK Government engages with devolved Governments where there are impacts on people, particularly here in Wales, obviously. No-one wants to see unilateral action. The UK Government has made it clear that it didn't want to be in a position where it had to introduce potential changes to the agreement on just the one side, but it is important that there are pragmatic solutions. I think the Bill that was produced and the proposals that have been put forward by the UK Government yesterday were pragmatic. They were not talking about ripping up an international agreement at all; there were minor changes proposed in order to address some of the significant concerns that have been raised across Northern Ireland, particularly by the business community. Do you accept, Counsel General, that, whilst this matter isn't devolved, the engagement that has to take place with the Welsh Government can only be limited because of course the agreement is between the UK Government and the European Union? And do you accept that the European Union also needs to move and attempt to compromise if we're going to reach an agreement—[Interruption.]—if we're going to reach an agreement that secures the peace in Northern Ireland and upholds the principles of the Good Friday agreement?

Thank you for that question. It is certainly the case that dialogue's important, and I think it's important that you recognise the importance of dialogue with devolved Governments. I don't think it is a minor matter. It is a matter that could involve devolved Governments right from day one, because there are significant economic interests. I think the previous Member, Huw Irranca-Davies, referred to the significant economic impacts for Welsh ports. I think you underestimate the implications of what the Government is proposing, that, within a couple of weeks, it is going to introduce legislation. I think we also do need to be clear about the mess the UK Government has got itself into, through what really is a failure of statesmanship and diplomacy.

Let's be clear: it signed up to an agreement that is legally binding in international law. It is the Prime Minister's agreement. Now, one proposal he put forward was that we should use article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol. That is only an emergency measure that can be used for temporary scope. It also opens the door too for the EU to use counter-measures. Effectively, the approach the UK Government's adopted is one that opens the door, effectively, to a trade war. There is potentially an independent arbitration process, but the Government hasn't made mention of that. Of course, what the UK Government is doing is opening itself to legal challenge in the Court of Justice of the European Union.

One thing that's very clear is this: however the UK Government wants to go about it, if it legislates, it is still required to comply with article 4 and article 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, which has primacy. So, even if it introduces its own domestic legislation, it cannot get out of its international obligations. Whatever the UK does at domestic law level, it cannot revoke those international law obligations, so it is in grave danger of destroying its international reputation, its credibility in international law, and we really should be a country that keeps our word, otherwise why would any country ever seek to do business with the UK if it cannot be trusted?

I think two other points that do need to be made in response to your question are, firstly, what is happening: the approach adopted is, firstly, destabilising the political situation in Northern Ireland, and we must not underestimate that, but it also risks some very significant material damage to the British and to the Welsh economies. So, I do hope the UK Government will seriously reconsider its position, that it will engage in dialogue, but, above all, that it will engage with the devolved Governments over issues that have a direct impact on our economic well-being.

Two weeks before the Brexit referendum, Sir John Major predicted that if Brexit happened, the peace process jigsaw would be thrown up in the air and nobody would have a single idea where all the pieces would land. But one man did have the answer, and not any answer, he had an oven-ready answer in 2019, and his Government signed, sealed and delivered that answer through the Northern Ireland protocol. He wants now to backtrack on that international binding agreement, and he's been warned by the US President, by the Irish Taoiseach not to do that. Isn't this the irony here, that the ultra Brexiteers who are so obsessed about Britain's standing in the world, Britain being great again in the world, are doing exactly the opposite? They are undermining Britain's status in the world—

Can you ask your question now, please?

Does the Counsel General agree with me, let's all be honest, that the United Kingdom Government has no answers on how to solve the Northern Ireland border question, they have no answers on how to solve the constitutional issues facing the United Kingdom at the moment, and, in fact, their own actions are fast accelerating the end of their precious union?

The Member makes his point very well. I have two particular concerns. The first one is the undermining of international law, and that is something that any law officer should be concerned with, and I would hope that the other law officers across the UK Governments share those concerns that we have. The other point he makes, of course, is in terms of the destabilising impact. You referred to the US Government and the implications of undermining the Good Friday agreement that this whole process has, but above all it is a gross failure of diplomacy and statesmanship on behalf of the UK Government that's got it to the position it's in. Sabre rattling with the threat of legislation that breaches international law will solve nothing, and I really do hope the UK Government will reconsider. But I also do make, again, this fundamental point that bypassing or not properly engaging with those Governments in the UK that also have significant concerns about the economic impact shows contempt for those Governments. I hope it will reconsider its position and that there will be engagement from the UK Government with the Welsh Government in the very near future.

And finally, Joyce Watson.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. We've already seen, of course, some of the damage from the oven-ready Brexit, or the half-baked idea, as I prefer to call it, on the ports in Wales, because they're bypassing our ports already. So, we've already seen that. It is, of course, Prime Minister Johnson who came up with this grand plan—which is not so grand, apparently, according to him now. So, I want to ask you, Counsel General, beyond the harm that tearing up this agreement will cause to the international standing of Wales and also the UK in the wider world, will you be having discussions with your counterparts in the devolved nations to urge the Prime Minister to reconsider what is going to be the most damaging international situation in terms of trade and trust that he is about to put upon the UK?

Well, thank you for that question. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the Minister for Economy and the First Minister will utilise every opportunity that there is to ensure that those international interests and UK interests, but in particular the Welsh interests, are at the forefront of any discussions and will use every opportunity to try and bring reason to this situation.

You mentioned the economic impact, and, of course, at a time when there is a cost-of-living crisis, perhaps I could just refer to what the director of the Confederation of British Industry in Northern Ireland has said. If the UK Government doesn't listen to the devolved Governments, then maybe it will listen to the CBI, the voice of business in Northern Ireland, who said that

'Politicians everywhere should be focused on helping the most vulnerable in society amid the worst cost of living crisis in decades.

'With firms already reeling from the rising cost of doing business, the last thing they want is further uncertainty in trading arrangements amid global supply chain challenges.'

I think that statement speaks for itself. 

I thank the Counsel General.