THE HERALD FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3 2017
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3 News Brexit and Wales: Te key questions
Author or editor of over 30 books on Scottish politics, European politics, nationalism and regionalism, Professor Keating is currently the Director of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre on Constitutional Change. On Thursday (Feb 2), the Chancellor
(L-R): Dr Rhys Dafydd Jones, Dr Elin Royles, Professor Michael Woods, Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones and Professor Rhys Jones
AROUND 100 people attended
the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society’s first public engagement event at the Morlan Centre on Wednesday, January 25. The free event was so well attended that organisers ran out of simultaneous translation headsets. The hot topical theme for the evening was Brexit and its implications for Wales, particularly local communities in Mid and West Wales. The debate was chaired by Professor Rhys Jones. Professor Michael Woods discussed the implications for Brexit for rural communities, noting that 83% of agricultural produce is exported to other EU members. The effects for Welsh language and culture were the themes for Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones and Dr Elin Royles, whose concerns extended to promoting integration and cohesion. Dr Rhys Dafydd Jones spoke on the implication for European migrants in Wales. Building on the influential and
highly respected Institute of Welsh Politics, the new Centre for Welsh Politics and Society brings together geographers, political scientists, psychologists and historians from the Institute of Geography, History, Politics and Psychology as well as social scientists from related departments with an interest in Wales. The Centre will also play a key role as the Aberystwyth arm of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD). Michael Woods, Professor of
Transformative Social Sciences at Aberystwyth University and Co- director of the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society, said: “Our aim with the new Centre is to develop our understanding of contemporary politics and Welsh society and to consider it in a global context. We are living in an age of significant political change and the Centre’s activity will focus on key themes relevant to our day-to-day lives.”
Kelvin Mason
kelvin.mason@herald.email
THE REALITIES OF MIGRATION
Dr Rhys Dafydd Jones, Lecturer
in Human Geography at Aberystwyth University, told those assembled: “It is clear that Brexit brings a number of questions for Mid Wales which need further consideration. One aspect that has received considerable attention in the run-up to and in the aftermath of the referendum is migration. While this is an important issue for many politicians and the public, there is also a misconception of the reality of the situation. Research by IPSOS-MORI shows that the public perception of the levels of immigration is over-exaggerated: people think around 25% of the UK’s population are immigrants, nearly double the actual 13%. In Wales, 5.8% of the population are immigrants, lower than the UK average. There is need to do more than address this misconception through noting the actual lower levels, however. The perception of immigration as a burden also needs to be challenged through emphasising the benefits of immigration for society.” Rhys Dafydd Jones also argued
that much of the discussion on immigration policy has been based on attracting ‘the brightest and best’ to work in the UK through adopting a points-based system: “Such systems are associated with counties such as Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Canada that have liberal immigration policies. They are ways to attract additional immigration that is in addition to employer-sponsored visas for people with job offers with particular skill sets deemed attractive by the government. Much of this discussion has been focussed on allowing additional growth for the City of London and financial services, but these aren’t the only ones in demand. There is also a reliance on ‘low skill’ jobs, such as agricultural labour, care, and
machine operation, with immigrants making up a significant proportion of the workforce in these sectors.” According to Dr Rhys Dafydd
Jones, nationals from the European Economic Area - EU member states, plus Norway, and Iceland - account for 5% of healthcare workers, around 8.5% of manufacturing workers and 12% of the food processing workforce: “There is a broader reliance on immigration to fulfil these kinds of roles, and a dependency on these workers for economic development. We have an ageing population in the UK and will see a growth in demand for social care over the next decades. We will require people with skills and experience from abroad to provide care for ourselves and our relatives, particularly as there are shortfalls in recruiting internally due to lack of training and expertise in this sector. “Immigration also sustains
the population, and therefore the demand for services and vitality of some areas and the benefits of reducing immigration to ‘tens of thousands’ are not clear. We also need to remember that immigrants are people, not numbers. “Migration brings benefits
beyond economic production, through cultural exchange and the exploration and understanding of new ideas and customs. It is easy, as inhabitants of a group of islands, to think of the sea as giving insulation, but British and Welsh history is one that is shaped by exchange and immigration.” Members of the audience spoke about
their own experiences of migration. One contributor spoke of the discourse which saw the benefit of immigration solely in terms of economic production. Another contributor spoke of the hardening of the discourse around migrants that she had noticed. A long-term resident in Ceredigion, she felt that she was now seen by people as ‘a migrant worker’ rather than as a person in her own right. In such instance, people felt their own identities were being undermined and
Dr Rhys Dafydd Jones: ‘Brexit brings a number of questions for Mid Wales’
that they were increasingly being defined in the public mind by a bureaucratic label.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION
At a critical time for political
negotiation and strategy around the UK’s departure from the EU, Aberystwyth University planned further public events to highlight some of the main challenges. On Tuesday (Jan 31), Professor Michael Keating from Aberdeen University gave a lecture entitled ‘Between Two Unions: Brexit and the Nations?’ Professor Keating considered the potential impact that the vote will have within the UK and on the current devolution settlements.
of Aberystwyth University, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, gave a talk on the ‘The Challenge of Implementing Brexit and the Implications for British Foreign Policy’. Sir Emyr Jones Parry is the UK’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a member of the Welsh Government’s advisory group on Brexit. Emyr Jones Parry was born in Carmarthen and is a graduate of Cardiff University. A career diplomat from 1973 to 2007, his last postings were as Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Permanent Representative to NATO and Political Director of the Foreign Office. From 2007 to 2009, he chaired the All Wales Convention on the Future Powers of the National Assembly for Wales. Professor Milja Kurki, Director
of Research at the Department of International Politics, said: “Since last summer’s momentous vote, the department has sought to encourage debate on what is turning out to be an increasingly complex and controversial Brexit process. These two events are the latest in a series of public round-table talks and lectures exploring what leaving the EU will mean for Aberystwyth, for Wales, the UK and beyond.”
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