During a Scottish Nationalist Party Opposition Day Debate on Covid-19: Future UK-EU Relationship, Fay Jones MP made an impassioned speech heralding the strength of the United Kingdom’s union, praising the UK Government’s tenacious efforts to secure a Canada-style trade deal with the European Union and standing up for jobs, growth and economic prosperity in Wales.
Speaking about the ongoing negotiations on the UK and EU’s future relationship, Miss Jones recognised that the coronavirus pandemic has understandably posed a challenge to the negotiation timetable. With that in mind, Miss Jones praised the UK Government’s work in ensuring that as we move towards the end of the transition period, the whole of the UK is prepared. Miss Jones said “it has been greatly reassuring that, despite the challenges presented by Covid, five rounds of negotiations between the UK and the EU have already been completed.”
The European Union is the single biggest market for Welsh lamb and is also a large market for Scottish produce. Noting this fact, Miss Jones reiterated that “there is no room for the uncertainty and small-minded approach that the Opposition call for in again flirting with an extension. My local farmers do not want to be involved in a party political scaremongering tactic, with the worry that accompanies this kind of discussion. They want to be able to take advantage of the ambitious Canada-style deals that this Government are working hard to secure.”
As a committed unionist, Miss Jones stressed that throughout the coronavirus pandemic and as the UK exits the transition period, the Conservative UK Government has been working hard for all four nations of the United Kingdom. Across Wales 316,500 people are benefiting from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme with 11,000 of them living in Brecon and Radnorshire. In Scotland 600,000 people are benefiting from this UK Government scheme. Throughout the pandemic, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has boosted Wales’ Budget by £2.8 billion and Scotland’s budget by £4.6 billion. Miss Jones described this as “yet more evidence that we are far stronger as one United Kingdom in the face of this crisis and as we exit the transition period into a new and prosperous chapter.”
Commenting on the debate, Fay Jones MP said:
“Yesterday, I received a letter from Wales for Europe urging me to call for an extension, because Wales already lags “at the bottom of economic league tables”. After 22 years of Labour running Wales, it is not an extension we need, but a Conservative Government in Cardiff.
“I was not surprised to see the SNP table this motion, but I am surprised to see the First Minister of Wales support this revisionist exercise. It shows not just his lack of awareness and his ignorance of the election results, but his lack of influence, because the First Minister of Wales—the leader of Welsh Labour—was not able to persuade one Member on the Labour Back Benches to turn up in support of this cause.
“When I knocked on doorsteps at the end of last year, the overwhelming view was, “Just get on with it.” That is what the Conservative UK Government are determined to do.”
Miss Jones' full speech can be watched here.