Brexit would put 6000 Broughton Airbus jobs at risk says first minister Carwyn Jones

First Minister Carwyn Jones has just painted a picture of utter jobs devastation in Deeside if we vote to leave the EU.

During a keynote speech at the Labour IN rally at Swansea University the First Minister set out why he believes the people of Wales should vote to remain in the European Union.

Mr Jones said we would “put at risk the 6,000 people employed in North Wales at the Airbus factory in Broughton by making it harder for that worldwide company to trade from, and invest in, Wales?”

He said the outcome of the referendum on June 23 would have a profound impact on the economy, the communities and the people of Wales for generations to come.

Mr Jones also pointed to Tata steel saying leaving the EU would “jeopardise the fragile progress we have made toward securing a new owner for the Tata Steel plants at Port Talbot, Shotton, Llanwern and Trostre and endanger the 18,000 jobs dependent on steel in Wales by plunging our economy into years of uncertainty.”

Turning to EU funding Mr Jones said this current funding period 2014-2020 millions will be spent upgrading the A55, £90m is helping extend Superfast Broadband right across Wales and millions spent on projects in South Wales.

Talking about EU funding Mr Jones said:

“It is giving a fresh start for thousands of people having a tough time in their lives.
Maybe they didn’t get the grades they needed in school, fell in with the wrong crowd or suffered health problems.
European funding has paid for new skills and new hope for those people.
Some 220,000 people across Wales have had the chance to improve their skills through new qualifications.
You can try and measure that economically – and it is important.
I have already touched on our record employment figures.
But, it is about much more than numbers – it is about hope, opportunity and fairness.
It might be difficult to really quantify what a £100million project with some terrible title means in real nuts and bolts.
So think about Kirste from Tredegar who was helped into teaching through the EU-funded Bridges into Work scheme.
Think about Zoe from Pontypridd who did her EU backed apprenticeship with British Airways.
Think about Dean from Briton Ferry who found a route back into work with help from the EU-funded Workways project.
They are the concrete reality of EU funding working in Wales.
Not the provision of revenue, but the provision of hope in some of our communities that really need extra support.
And be in absolutely no doubt about this – the Leave campaign will say, ‘oh that’s all our money coming back.’
‘Wales would still get extra funding.’
That argument is an absolute fantasy. It is a dangerous fantasy.
The money wouldn’t come from Brussels any more – it would get lost in the post.
Last spotted somewhere around Whitehall.
I’ve spent nearly 7 years as First Minister of Wales, almost all of them sadly with the Tory Government at the other end of the M4.
Getting a single extra penny out of the Treasury in that time has been like trying to get blood out of a stone.
Wales has seen its budget cut again and again.
And again and again we’ve been denied a fair funding settlement, as much by the UK Government mandarins as by their political masters.
Does anyone seriously think that a Leave vote will change that mindset?
Not a bit of it.
If anything it will harden the London-centric mindset that denies Wales fair shares.
Who will be the victors of a Leave Vote – Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.

Read the speech in full here