Mark Drakeford AM, First Minister
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
A no deal Brexit would have a catastrophic impact on Wales – a message which has been consistently put to the UK government time and again, most recently when I met the Prime Minister on 30 July.
A letter has been sent from the UK government to Gina Miller in the last few days regarding the possibility of the prorogation of the UK Parliament. In it the Prime Minister continues expressly to refuse to rule out taking unconstitutional steps to achieve a no deal Brexit. The Welsh Government is very troubled that the Prime Minister may still entertain the possibility of proroguing Parliament with the intention of limiting debate, scrutiny and the expression of the will of Parliament in what is the most important time in our generation. The Welsh Government therefore calls on the Prime Minister to put the matter beyond doubt, and confirm that he will not be taking steps to prorogue Parliament in the period leading up to 31 October 2019.
In the absence of this clarification, the Welsh Government will continue to monitor developments closely. A Welsh Government lawyer will be deployed to monitor, directly, the next hearings in the recent legal challenge brought before the Court of Session in Scotland by Joanna Cherry MP, and 74 other Parliamentarians, along with the Good Law Project. At the same time specific, expert legal advice has been commissioned to explore potential options that may be open to the Welsh Government in order to safeguard the interests of Wales in the event that the UK government fails to do so.