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EU referendum: Leap in the dark to leave, says Crabb EU referendum: Welsh Tory leader Davies backs EU exit
(about 1 hour later)
Supporters of a UK exit from the EU are offering "confusion and vagueness", the Welsh secretary has said, claiming it would be a "leap in the dark". Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has said he will be voting for Britain to leave the EU in June.
Stephen Crabb said it made "much more sense" for Britain to stay in the EU and fight for reform. "Our future will be best served as part of a looser, economic relationship with the European Union," he said.
Of the 11 Welsh Tory MPs, five have said Britain should remain, four want to leave and two are undeclared, one of them Wales Office minister Alun Cairns. Mr Davies added that voters in Wales faced "an even bigger question" before then at the assembly election in May.
Mr Crabb was "hopeful and optimistic" he would vote to remain in the EU. The Tories would "not be distracted from articulating our positive vision of real change for our NHS, education and economy," he said.
The Welsh secretary said remaining in the EU was right for Welsh businesses and the "overwhelming majority" of firms agreed. "In June voters will have a say on Britain's future in the European Union, for the first time in more than a generation," Mr Davies said in a statement on Monday.
"Thanks to the Conservatives, the future of our relationship with Europe will then be placed in the hands of the people - not politicians.
"After a great deal of consideration I have decided that I will be voting for Britain to leave the EU. It is my belief that our future will be best served as part of a looser, economic relationship with the European Union.
"There will be almost seven weeks for Welsh politicians to articulate their positions on the European question, but before a ballot has been cast in the referendum Welsh voters face an even bigger question.
"We are a little over 70 days away from the most important Welsh Assembly election in a generation and the Welsh Conservatives will not be distracted from articulating our positive vision of real change for our NHS, education and economy.
"As the UK surges forward, Wales risks being left behind.
"We simply cannot afford to give Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party five more years to make the same mistakes all over again."
The Welsh Tory leader's declaration puts him at odds with Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb, who said supporters of a UK exit from the EU were offering "confusion and vagueness".
Of the 11 Welsh Tory MPs, six have said Britain should remain, four want to leave and one was undecided.
Mr Crabb said remaining in the EU was right for Welsh businesses and the "overwhelming majority" of firms agreed.
"There's a lot they don't like about the European system in the same way that there's lots they don't like about Welsh government and UK government," he said."There's a lot they don't like about the European system in the same way that there's lots they don't like about Welsh government and UK government," he said.
"But they know that on a balance of costs and benefits, risks and opportunities, Britain and Wales are actually better off staying part of a reforming European Union.""But they know that on a balance of costs and benefits, risks and opportunities, Britain and Wales are actually better off staying part of a reforming European Union."
As for those campaigning for a British exit, Mr Crabb said: "They aren't able to say how we get back into the European Union to be part of a single trading area, without also accepting some of the rules and costs that come with that." Junior Wales Office Minister Alun Cairns was the sixth Welsh Conservative MP to confirm he wanted the UK to remain in the EU.
The Welsh secretary said hoped Mr Cairns - his junior minister at the Wales Office - would join him in supporting the UK remaining in the EU. Earlier on Monday, Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies became the fourth Welsh Tory MP to declare he wanted the UK to leave the EU, saying it was "time to move on".
"Alun is a very pragmatic, sensible guy - he understand the needs, particularly amongst businesses in Wales," Mr Crabb said.
"It will be up to him to make his mind up. But I'm hopeful and optimistic that like me he'll recognise although there are so many things that are wrong with the European system that we can argue about and fight against, actually on balance it makes much more sense for Britain to stay in."
Earlier on Monday, Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies became the fourth Welsh Conservative MP to declare he wanted the UK to leave the EU, saying it was "time to move on".
"The truth is that the EU is a largely political project and Britain has always been a reluctant partner of it," he wrote on his Facebook page."The truth is that the EU is a largely political project and Britain has always been a reluctant partner of it," he wrote on his Facebook page.
Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies revealed on Twitter he would seek the views of local party members before deciding which way to vote.Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies revealed on Twitter he would seek the views of local party members before deciding which way to vote.
Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats have said their parties will campaign to keep the UK in the EU.Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats have said their parties will campaign to keep the UK in the EU.