Adam Price AM:...Now, looking beyond the first few weeks and
months, it is true that in the long run those crises usually sort
themselves out eventually. However, I think it's likely that in
this case, such is the depth of the impact in certain sectors,
particularly the car industry, pharmaceuticals,
aerospace, Farming, and probably finance, I think it would
leave a long shadow of economic decline for many, many years to
come. And because Wales has a higher concentration...Request free trial
AM:...Now,
looking beyond the first few weeks and months, it is true that in
the long run those crises usually sort themselves out eventually.
However, I think it's likely that in this case, such is the depth
of the impact in certain sectors, particularly the car industry,
pharmaceuticals, aerospace, Farming, and probably finance, I think it
would leave a long shadow of economic decline for many, many
years to come. And because Wales has a higher concentration in
most of these sectors, we would likely suffer disproportionately
from a no deal scenario. A major recession in the country will
almost certainly be unavoidable. The huge hit to industry, allied
to rising prices and rising interest rates, will leave people
much poorer, struggling to make ends meet. Domestic-facing
companies that will likely avoid the initial chaos would then be
hit by probably the most severe depression the country will have
known for many, many years...
AM...Do
we genuinely think that Brexit had no influence whatsoever over
what has happened to Wylfa and the announcement that we're
expecting tomorrow on the suspension of that? Do we honestly
think that businesses of ours, like the mussel farmers of the
Menai Straits aren't bothered if 97 per cent of their produce
that needs to be delivered alive to the European Union within
24 hours might be threatened because of tariffs? Even if that's
only temporary, do we worry about the effects on our
agriculture industry? Neil Hamilton talks about
tariffs—non-agricultural. What about the agricultural ones?
What about agriculture in my constituency? What about the
effects of losing young people? What about the effects of
losing young people from the agriculture industry in my
constituency because they're losing the
[Inaudible.] market?
AM:...And
some of the Farming concerns have been well
rehearsed, of course, but particularly recently in the
UK Farming round-table, where a
number of the major and immediate impacts of a potential 'no
deal' Brexit were aired. We know, for example, that there could
be huge implications for animal-based products such as meat,
eggs and dairy that are being exported currently to the EU.
They will only import from approved countries, and it could
take months for us under a 'no deal' scenario to achieve such
status. The impact for our lamb sector in Wales particularly,
along with others, doesn't bear thinking about...
: But we're massive net
importers of all these products, apart from lamb. Apart
from lamb, where we import as much as we export—trade
is in balance. We're massive net importers, so the
vicious tariffs of the EU will apply to their sales to
us as much as our sales to them, so they will be the
ones who will lose.
AM: Here we
go. You're the personification of this delusion of grandeur
that the British empire still exists. No, it's true. And
that's what gets me about a lot of this debate. It gets me
because some of the rhetoric around Brexit and leaving the
EU—it has echoes of that wartime rhetoric, doesn't it? The
Dunkirk spirit, digging for victory. This is meant to be
peacetime. It's meant to be peacetime, and that kind of
rhetoric smacks more of self-harm than self-reliance. It
does, absolutely. And look: it's not me saying all of this.
This evening the Farmers' Union of Wales have released a
statement, and I quote:
'Given the result of this vote and the dangers of a no-deal
scenario, our chairmen and Presidential team felt that the
only way we can take back control of the Brexit process is to
withdraw Article 50'—
this is the FUW—
' and by doing so safeguard the future of the agricultural
industry not just in Wales but across the UK'.
And they go on—and you won't like this bit—
' There seems to be growing support for a second referendum
across the country, which appears to be reflected in our own
sector'.
But you get the gist, don't you? We know there will be
impacts upon the sector, and of course in terms of labour as
well, the sudden end of labour mobility from the EU would
cause serious problems when it comes it securing labour to
harvest and process UK produce as well, of course, and has
another impact in terms of veterinary inspections, which is
something that we've rehearsed here previously in this
Chamber. In the worst-case scenario, even one of the
architects of Brexit, , recently warned of a cull
of up to a third of all sheep in the UK, and he had the cheek
to lecture others, and I quote,
'Nobody can be blithe or blase about the real impacts on food
producers in this country of leaving without the deal.'
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