Liberal Democrats challenge Shadow Welsh Secretary on EU relations

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have challenged Shadow Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens on her party’s stance on rebuilding relations with Europe ahead of the general election.

Rodney Berman, who is standing for the Welsh Liberal Democrats in Cardiff East, has accused Labour of lacking ambition for young people and our economy and of failing to stand up for internationalism.

The seat of Cardiff East in which Jo Steven is also standing has one of the youngest average ages of all Parliamentary constituencies in Wales.

In last week’s ITV UK election debate, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner stated Labour would “never” take the UK back into the EU and wouldn’t even allow the UK to re-join the single market.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat manifesto has outlined plans to place the UK-EU relationship on a more formal and stable footing by seeking to join the single market and outlines a longer-term ambition to re-join the EU.

The Liberal Democrats have also committed to re-joining the Erasmus Plus exchange programme, while Labour have ruled out.

The Lib Dems say that fixing the UK’s broken relationship with Europe will drive down prices in shops and widen opportunities for young people to work throughout the bloc.

Commenting Liberal Democrat Candidate for Cardiff East, Rodney Berman said:

“The Liberal Democrats are the most pro-European party in British politics. We aren’t afraid to acknowledge that the Conservatives Brexit deal with the EU had been a disaster and had undermined growth.

Yet Labour seems wedded to the Conservatives economy destroying deal that is causing havoc for Welsh businesses, especially the smaller ones which are drowning in red tape.

Jo Stevens represents one of the youngest constituencies in Wales, yet she won’t speak out about the damage poor relations with the EU is having not only on businesses but on our young people’s opportunities for the future.

Labour are going to have a large majority after this election, but they are going to need a Party to hold them to account and its increasingly clear the Liberal Democrats are best placed to provide that accountability.

In liberal cities like Cardiff and Swansea they are taking voters for granted and the Liberal Democrats will continue to challenge them on this.”