BRUSSELS – Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said Brexit had left Wales poorer and isolated from the world, with the country losing £1 billion since Britain left the EU.
talking I In Brussels, Drakeford said Rishi Sunak’s government had falsely claimed it had replaced EU funding with state funds. “It’s completely untrue,” he said. “This is not true. We have been given ironclad assurances time and again that Wales will not lose a penny by leaving the EU – yet we have lost over a billion pounds since Brexit.”
Mr Drakeford, who is also leader of the Welsh Labor Party, added that local authorities could no longer decide how the money was spent. He said: “The funding was previously decided at Welsh level but is now decided in Whitehall by a Conservative government which has never won an election in Wales in the last 150 years or more. Majority.”
Mr Drakeford, who will resign next month after five years as first minister, said he had come to Brussels to demonstrate “Wales’ continued ambition to become a European nation”. He said his appearance ahead of St David’s Day on Friday was more than symbolic. “We’re not in the EU and we don’t pretend to be. But that certainly doesn’t mean we stop being the outgoing, engaging, welcoming place we want Wales to be.”
However, he said that despite sympathy from EU officials, he could not prevent the economic hit from Brexit. He said: “Trading barriers are very real for Welsh businesses, with some simply stopping trading with their European counterparts as Brexit brings new barriers to daily life.”
Mr Drakeford said the Welsh mussel industry had been particularly hard hit, with 90% of its catch previously destined for the EU. “They leave fresh, they arrive fresh and they are sold. That’s over now. It’s all over because now you’re blocked everywhere.” He added that other markets had yet to emerge to replace the EU. “If you force-fed Welsh mussel Twizzlers to every student every day of the week, you still wouldn’t be able to absorb the product.”
Drakeford was particularly critical of the hardline Brexit policies pursued by successive Conservative governments, which saw the UK withdraw from the EU single market and other EU measures such as the Erasmus student exchange programme.
“Our focus is not on the fact of Brexit, because that was decided in a referendum. That’s the shape of Brexit. I think that’s where things get really bad,” he said. “We are about to build a border post at Anglesey in Holyhead. For over 40 years goods in and out of Wales have been transported without checks and now we are going to build some sophisticated machinery to check that no one before thought was needed Something to check.”
Drakeford said as a general election approached, Sunak’s Conservative Party looked exhausted after nearly 14 years in power. “This is not malicious neglect,” he said. “But that tail has no power, no energy, no ability.”
Mr Drakeford also acknowledged that Labor leader Keir Starmer was struggling to balance the different factions within the party over the ongoing conflict in Gaza. “It’s been a very, very difficult road for Starmer,” he said. “He is trying to make a significant contribution to solving these absolutely horrific events.”
However, he refused to join critics in urging Sir Keir to take a more forthright stance, saying it would not change the course of the war.
“I just won’t engage in political posturing,” he said. “I spent 20 years trying to convince the Senate not to behave like a debating society. It should focus on the responsibilities it has, rather than debating things you have no responsibility for and feel bad about because you passed a resolution. Better, it makes absolutely no difference.”
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