This week has been a watershed moment in the on-going Brexit debate and process. Over 250 amendments were tabled by opposition parties in the Westminster Parliament yet none were adopted and therefore the one-page, 7 line bill passed through the House of Commons. The amendment we’re looking at here however concerned ensuring in law, that the promise made by senior Leave politicians such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Andrew RT Davies, Neil Hamilton and Nathan Gill.
I can hear brexiteers chanting “will of the people” and “democracy” now, even on my second paragraph; what these people fail to see is that this broken promise IS against the will of the people. One of the many, many, promises made by the Vote Leave campaign included, in Wales, a commitment that at least the same levels of funding would continue outside the EU. This amendment would have enshrined in law, this promise.
However, this amendment, like all the others, failed to make it onto the final bill that left the House of Commons, due to the UK Government bulldozing their slim majority across all compromise. Notable mentions of other broken promises have been:
- Vote Leave and Change Britain Chair, Gisela Stuart promising to protect EU nationals who already live here – she voted against the amendment that protected this
- Remember when Boris Johnson et al. stood in front of bus and posters of that famous £350m promise? All voted against, amendment failed to pass
What is particularly disappointing, and downright unacceptable, is that a sizeable bloc of Welsh MPs voted against the amendment for the promised funding for Wales. It is important that they are known, and they are as follows:
David Jones MP
Brexit Minister, Clwyd West
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Craig Williams MP
Cardiff North
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Chris Davies MP
Brecon & Radnorshire
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Simon Hart MP
Carmarthenshire West & South Pembrokeshire
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Alun Cairns MP
Welsh Secretary, Vale of Glamorgan
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
David Davies MP
Monmouthshire
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Byron Davies MP
Gower
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Guto Bebb MP
Welsh Office Minister, Aberconwy
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Stephen Crabb MP
Preseli Pembrokeshire
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
James Davies MP
Vale of Clwyd
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Glyn Davies MP
Montgomeryshire
Voted AGAINST continued funding for Wales
Where is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies? Well, he’s off telling a House of Lords committee that the Senedd had not moved on from Brexit. Surely it’s in his best interest for the focus to pivot away from this latest Brexit disappointment. For the only conclusions, one can make from these developments are one of two options:
- That these politicians made these promises in full sincerity, but with complete ignorance of their deliverability
- That these politicians were partaking in a known falsehood, with absolutely no expectation that they would eventually have to fulfill this promise
A great shame.
This is only to be expected from members of the Conservative party. They have never shown any wish to support Wales.
Wales must be defended. The names of the MPS who didn’t must be remembered and held to account.
There is a third option, that these politicians were cavalier with the truth because they were engaged in a deliberate fraud. The objective was to win the Referendum at any cost and to worry about any issues that arose from achieving that objective later. Since the Referendum I have discovered that the MP’s Code of Conduct (unlike that foisted on Councillors) does not oblige MPs or even Ministers to tell the truth and there are no consequences likely to befall an MP who portrays false impressions in the narratives they employ in their work. If a Minister misleads Parliament there may be consequences for them but misleading the public appears not to be a matter of interest to the Parliamentary Standards officer because the Code of Conduct specifically does not cover how an MP or Minister conveys his or her message.
The fact that these MPs either lied, or broke their promise must be made as widely known as possible.
Today I have also learned the Andrea Leadsom (The Westminster Minister for DEFRA) is refusing to continue to pass on the ex-EU agricultural funding to the Devolved Authorities. This appears to break another Leave promise that no farmer will be worse off after Brexit.
“partaking in a known falsehood”?!? Please call it what it is: a complete and utter LIE. These people are frauds and they have an agenda. Don’t fall into their trap by being all polite and respectful. They are not and that’s why democrats are losing throughout the world. We are too weak.
Learn from Brexiteers and use words that the morons who voted for this destruction enterprise can understand. We were conned and sold a lie!
Living as I am in Dudleston Heath in North Shropshire, I see the influence of Brexit from a different perspective. Over the months, it has become quite evident that there is now a very insular approach by English people to conserve themselves under Brexit. It is then leading to anti-Welsh instinct. Again, the elected representatives ( E.g. Owen Patterson in North Shropshire ) are undoubtedly playing to their electorates over future resource allocation after Brexit. Their message to the voters is based on bias & lies. I’m of the opinion that this way has become both disproportionate & discriminatory.
Where I live is close to the Welsh border, & there are definite directions towards anti-Welsh thinking, including hate. However, I must also add, that around the Welshpool area which I visit three times each week, there appears to be a growing resentment towards Europe. This appears to have got worse because of the Brexit vote, & now added to by the Conservative MPs who have voted in the way that they have.
There is an urgent need for action on the elements of Article 50, in order to provide the electorate with the opportunity to vote on the Government plan for Brexit, not just Parliament. The Government is obviously using the upcoming Parliamentary vote to automatically railroad through Article 50. It;s becoming clearer that that is the Government strategy. The electoral vote will mean that Welsh voters have a chance to re-think their views, based this time on facts, not post-truth.