During the meeting, First Minister Carwyn Jones will urge Prime Minister Theresa May to use the Welsh Government’s EU White Paper as the starting point for forthcoming Brexit negotiations. 

The White Paper, published last week by First Minister Carwyn Jones and leader of Plaid Cymru Leanne Wood, is a comprehensive, credible plan for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. 

The White Paper is not just a shopping list of demands from Wales, but a pragmatic starting point for negotiations that can deliver for all parts of the United Kingdom.

The paper balances concerns over immigration with the economic reality that makes participation in the single market central to Wales’ future prosperity.

In today’s meeting, the First Minister will also call on the Prime Minister to uphold the promises made during the referendum campaign that Wales would not lose funding as a result of the UK leaving the EU. 

First Minister, Carwyn Jones said: 

“I look forward to welcoming Government representatives from across the UK to Cardiff today. Today’s meeting is an important opportunity for open and frank discussions about the UK’s future post-Brexit. 

“While we know that the UK will leave the EU we don’t yet know how that will happen or what form our relationship with the EU will look like beyond that point. To inform that discussion, last week I launched our Brexit White Paper. This is a Paper that will be supported by almost three quarters of Assembly Members, setting out a comprehensive, credible and evidence-based plan for Brexit negotiations; securing both full and unfettered access to the Single Market and greater domestic control of immigration. 

“It is not simply a list of demands. While it protects Wales’ interests, it was created as a sensible starting point for negotiations for the whole UK.”

The two day fact finding visit (31 January to 1 February) follows a series of meetings between the Welsh Government and Northern Powerhouse companies that are interested in developing facilitates in Wales and working with Wales based supply chain companies.

This first visit forms part of a strategic programme of events being developed by the Welsh Government over the next 24 months to build close business links with Northern Powerhouse companies and support cross border collaboration and co-operation, particularly between North Wales and the Northern Powerhouse.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

“North Wales and North West England have strong historical ties and we need to build on these to develop closer economic links  and work together for the  benefit of both regions. The number of very large infrastructure projects that are in the pipeline for Wales have opened up significant inward investment opportunities in North and South Wales and I am pleased we are proactively engaging with businesses to explore and maximise these opportunities.”

Multi-million pound projects include the Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey, the potential for the development of  Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in Trawsfynydd within the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone and Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

This first visit has a key focus on the £1.3bn Swansea Tidal Lagoon project that was recently backed by a government-commissioned review by Charles Hendry. The companies visiting Swansea have expressed an interest in setting up a facility in Wales should this project get approval, with a number also interested in collaborating with Welsh supply chain companies.

Opportunities in the nuclear sector and other large infrastructure projects will also be highlighted as well as the business support offered by the WG and local authorities to assist with inward investment. 

The companies will meet and network with representatives from Welsh Government, Tidal Lagoon Power, The Association of British Ports, Swansea Bay City Region, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea Councils. 

The two year programme being drawn up by the Welsh Government will include a mixture of hospitality events, round table discussions, sector focus events and one to one meetings. The aim is twofold – to get a better understanding of the business objectives of key companies and to highlight the opportunities for collaboration and inward investment into Wales across a variety of sectors.

It builds on the cross border North Wales Summit held last year to discuss maximising economic opportunities between the regions.

By Kezia Dugdale, Scottish Labour leader

WITH the Tories’ Brexit Bill now published, Britain has moved even closer to the European exit door.

Every move by Theresa May, as she embraces the horror of a hard Brexit and the economic hardship that will cause, is a reminder of how reckless the Tories are in government.

Now, more than ever, we need political leaders who are ready to work in the national interest.

Theresa May has no such interest and is only concerned with keeping the hard right MPs in her party happy. Her claim that the Union is ‘precious’ to her is simply just empty talk.

And the divisions the Conservatives are causing create a political climate the SNP thrives upon.

Nicola Sturgeon is little better than Theresa May – she also refuses to put the national interest ahead of party interest.

It is time for her to stop playing political games.

One minute she says an independence referendum is ‘highly likely’, next she says it’s off the table, then she says she’s not ‘bluffing’ about holding another contest, then she ruled out a vote this year, and now she is threatening a referendum once again.

It is not just inconsistent and it is not just embarrassing – it is downright dangerous.

Last week’s Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the triggering of Article 50 is a decision for the UK Parliament.

It was, of course, a UK-wide referendum.

That is not to say the Scottish Parliament’s voice should be ignored, and indeed it will not be ignored.

So there will be a debate in Holyrood, and we will make clear that we oppose both the SNP’s separatism and the Tories’ separatism.

Let’s be clear what any Holyrood vote is not: it is not a vote in favour of a second independence referendum.

There are absolutely no circumstances in which Scottish Labour will support another referendum.

As Jeremy Corbyn said when he was in Glasgow earlier this month, Scottish independence would lead to ‘turbo-charged austerity’.

That fact infuriated Nicola Sturgeon, as she prefers to deal in what Donald Trump would call ‘alternative facts’.

The reality is there is a £15billion difference between what Scotland raises in tax and what we spend on public services. That’s a black hole that would cause further austerity in an independent Scotland.

Labour is the party for Scotland’s workers, and we will never support something that would put jobs and livelihoods at risk.

Last week, new export figures revealed the value of the UK single market is four times more important to Scottish trade than the EU single market.

So while I will continue to argue that Brexit is bad for Scotland’s economy, the SNP government’s own figures show that independence would be considerably worse.

It is simply a reckless nationalist gamble to put access to the UK single market, and all the jobs that depend on it, at risk.

Contrast the SNP’s dangerous approach in Holyrood with Labour’s approach in Westminster.

Labour has tabled a number of targeted amendments to the Article 50 Bill, designed to ensure Parliament is able to hold the Government to account throughout the negotiations.

Labour has also tabled an anti-tax haven amendment to ensure the Prime Minister does use Brexit to weaken Britain’s laws concerning tax avoidance and evasion.

In Scotland, we want to continue working with the Scottish Government to get the best deal for Scotland within the UK, but that will not extend to blind faith.

Unity cannot be achieved by a politics that sees one half of the country constantly facing off against the other. We are divided enough already.

Only Labour is standing up for what the majority of Scots want – a strong Scottish Parliament within the UK and close ties with Europe.

We are facing the biggest constitutional upheaval in this country for generations.

This is a time for serious politics, not the SNP’s game-playing.

The Nationalists should ditch their obsession with independence and work with Labour to help secure the best deal for Scotland and the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon should be standing up for Scotland, not standing up for her party’s own self-interest.

*This opinion piece first appeared in Scotland on Sunday on 29/01/17

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on President Trump’s potential state visit to the UK, said:

“Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees’ and women’s rights.

"Theresa May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms. That’s what Britain expects and deserves.”