1/ Just caught up with Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones on his way out of a meeting with Michel Barnier. Snap reflection: ‘I think the UK and the EU are a long way from an agreement. Time’s running out.’
2/ He presented Barnier with the Welsh government’s Brexit plan which involves staying in the Customs Union but reforming Freedom of Movement to tie the right to reside to having a job offer. In return, MB was tight-lipped on what he thinks of Govt’s White Paper.
3/ CJ stressed to MB dangers of no deal: ‘Last thing we want is to crash out of EU - in nobody’s interest. People in Britain didn't vote for a mess. They voted for something to be done properly not something that would cause a huge mess and would jeapordize jobs.’
4/ He urged EU to be flexible: ‘I think both sides will need to be flexible - that’s what a negotiation is. You can’t have everything you want.' But added: 'There’s really a lot of pressure now on the UK Government to show some unity because they’re all over the place.'
5/ On Norway Plus, Jones said: ‘I don’t think it would meet any resistance here. Norway model was itself bespoke so there’s no reason why UK can’t have a bespoke model. It doesn’t endanger the unity of the EU, which is what the EU will be thinking about, but it works for the UK.'
6/ Dismissive of Global Britain: ‘People say it’ll stop us from conducting FTAs with other countries. Who are they? We’re not going to have an FTA with the US. It’s just not going to happen. People need to wake up and smell the coffee.’
7/ Added Oz and NZ are 'small countries' in comparison to EU: '‘If we can’t get the right deal with our closest neighbours we’ve got no chance with anybody else. People talk these deals are there around the world - I just don’t believe it. I think it’s just cloud cuckoo land.’
8/ Final thoughts: 'It’s going to take a lot of work to get a good deal for everybody involved. The reality is August is a bit of a write-off. Basically it’s Sept/Oct and it’s going to be very, very difficult to get to a deal by then but this could’ve been done ages ago.’ Ends.
