Welsh Labour side with Tories and Ukip .

This Blog has been sceptical  about whether  the UK could still remain in a single market after Brexit .

As I wrote in an earlier in post "Its like someone  resigning  from a Club and yet still waning to use its facilities without following the rules".

It is clear that any idea of a single market would involve freedom of movement and since part of the LEAVE campaign was an anti-immigration argument often with racist overtones. I suspect that those who are in control of the Brexit negotiations (for what they are at the moment) have no desire for.

Having said that there's no harm in us trying especially  from a Welsh point of view has we are arguably likely to get the biggest hit from leaving the EU of all the four nations of these Islands.

So it is incredible that the Welsh Labour Government and its tame Lib Dem joined with the Conservatives and UKIp in rejecting a Plaid Cymru motion in favour of Single Market membership, and supported an alternative Tory amendmentt which advocated only access instead.

The final motion supported by the Labour group also called for clarity on the Labour Government’s position on freedom of movement after the First Minister dropped his previous support for the policy.

Speaking after the vote in the Senedd, Mr Price – the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Business, Economy and Finance – said:

 “Today Labour in Wales voted with the Tories against the Welsh national interest.  “Due to the way Labour have voted, David Davis’ hard Brexit policy has now been adopted by the Welsh Government.“This is a dark day for Wales as the National Assembly becomes the first parliament in these islands to vote in favour of a hard Brexit, and to yield any possible leverage in securing the best deal for Wales, thanks to Labour joining forces with the Tories.
“Ever since the Brexit vote the Labour government’s position on membership of the Single Market has been confused at best, with successive statementsexpressing contradictory positions. One minute Labour was in favour of full  membership then just access the next; one minute they wanted free movement of people, the next minute they were calling for a moratorium on free movement.”

Only a Fortnight  ago  First Minister Carwyn Jones  in a a speech in Chicago  warned  that Wales will not consent to a Brexit deal that fails to guarantee the nation continued access to the European single market.

A spokesman for Ken Skates, the Cabinet Secretary for Business, Economy and Finance, said: 

“It does no-one any favours to have these wild claims every time the Welsh Government declines to play this semantic parlour game on how best to respond to Brexit.
“Our view is clear - we support continued, unfettered access to the Single Market. We have not supported hard Brexit today, nor will we ever – the Cabinet Secretary was very clear about our aims and priorities. We’ve simply voted against a sloppy motion that was designed to generate a press release and not a meaningful debate.”

So why didn't Labour and their tame Lib Dem at least Abstain ? 

Can it be that they would rather vote with the Tories and Ukip rather than seeing Plaid take the lead on a policy they claim to support.

I wonder if the Labour spokesman claiming the Plaid motion was to generate a press release  was involved in a press backed free movement of people despite the Brexit vote that was altered after being sent to journalists?

The release, issued ahead of a news conference hours after the result of the Brexit , was later edited to remove the reference.

The change came after First Minister Carwyn Jones did not mention free movement when he made the statement.

Plaid Cymru called for an independent inquiry into the circumstances.

The Welsh language version of the press release was only changed to remove the reference weeks later.

Mr Jones has since said he believes the continuation of unrestricted free movement of people would be unacceptable to people after the referendum result.

In a debate in the Senedd on Wednesday, Plaid Cymru Shadow Economy Secretary Adam Price ( The Labour front Bench must love him) joined Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies in questioning Economy Secretary Ken Skates on why the original press release made reference to retaining the free movement of people and was then altered.

Mr Price said: 

"Doctoring a government website, which set out the government's official position, to reflect a change in the political weather can never be accepted."I have no idea whether this case a case of cock-up or conspiracy but we clearly need an independent investigation into the circumstances under which the government policy changed, and why the press web notice was changed retrospectively."If this has been done to avoid embarrassment to the first minister then it is clearly a very serious matter indeed."

We have a Welsh Government who seem incapable of taking a stand and who when encouraged to do so choose to back the Tories and Ukip . Can it be that Labour  are fearful of expressing a different  approach in Wales.
 .
It is not good enough . We need a government prepared to fight for Welsh Interest  not to be a puppet of the Westminster  Government  (Labour or Tory) for fear that  a different Welsh approach will fuel an increase in Welsh aspirations of more autonomy,