I will not.
The UK Government must think again. How far are they willing to threaten peace, erode co-operation and strip devolved Governments of their decision-making powers? And how far would they be prepared to accept lower standards of food and medicines and thrust them on the people of all four nations—all at the hands of just a few unscrupulous Government Ministers and unaccountable aides?
6.15 pm
Nowhere in the Bill can I see legislation that guarantees that standards are upheld; nor can I see any mechanism to agree a common threshold across all four nations. Currently, standards are negotiated fairly and the Welsh Government have the freedom and choice to operate the high standards they wish to operate. The Bill threatens all of that. For example, if this Parliament legislated to allow hormone-injected beef throughout the UK, there would be very little that the Welsh Government could do to stop it from landing on people’s plates in Cardiff North. Neither could they impose different labels or regulate for improved animal welfare; nor could they protect Welsh farmers from being undercut by substandard alternatives.
It is not just about food; restrictions could cut across all devolved areas. For example, had these laws been in place when the UK Government bulk bought substandard personal protective equipment earlier in the current health crisis, Wales would have had to accept their inferior products. What a mess.
Our NHS may be fair game for American private health firms that wish to operate in Wales. They may not currently operate in Wales under existing laws, but they may find that the door has opened up for them. Or how about the fact that in Wales we are proposing to ban nine single-use-plastic products? In England, the number is only three, but under these laws that number will prevail. Do the Government even care?
The Bill should be about how the internal market works and how we work jointly together to agree standards. It should be a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. It is about Britain’s standing in the world; about smooth co-operation and collaboration; and about quality of life and our freedoms. Never have so many people been so vulnerable to the impulses, mistakes and downright ludicrous decisions of such an incompetent few. The people of Wales and the people of Cardiff North deserve better.