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A Welsh MP made a new call for a second Brexit referendum after hearing of how Wales and the port of Holyhead could “suffer”.

Captain Wyn Parry, an operations manager for Stena Line UK, described how the port of Holyhead could be affected by delays when Britain leaves the European Union.

Setting out the scale of traffic, he told the Welsh Affairs committee: “We will have something like 450 lorries coming off the ships and we’ll have 450 lorries waiting to go on the ships. The turnaround for the ships is roughly speaking about 2hrs 20mins.”

Witnesses stressed the need to avoid lengthy checks, with Mr Parry saying: “In Holyhead port, 75% of the freight that arrives at the port [arrives] within two hours of that sailing. That really demonstrates the ‘just in time’ scenario – these guys are operating to the wire.”

Newport West Labour MP Paul Flynn argued that the nation would take a hit if a Brexit deal to keep trade flowing between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland put the border “between Wales, England, Scotland and the island of Ireland”. Wales, he said, would be “on the frontline of the new border”.

Mr Parry said: “Anything that makes it easier to take traffic elsewhere, Holyhead will suffer – without a doubt... Seventy-five percent of the traffic that goes from Wales to Ireland actually comes through Holyhead, so it’s a huge chunk of traffic.”

'Isn’t it time to sober up?'

Mr Flynn pushed for a new referendum, saying: “Isn’t it time to rethink this whole nonsense and plan for a second referendum?”

He added: “Isn’t it time to say that a decision taken on one day on the basis of lies from both sides [should] be succeeded by one that’s based on information when we know the full horrors... Isn’t it time to sober up and recognise that the Government have made a terrible mistake on this and the swivel-eyed lot should not be allowed to lead Government astray?”

Witnesses declined to call for a new public vote but grasped the chance to state their priorities.

Mark Simmonds, policy manager of the British Ports Association, said: “We’re looking for all of the benefits from the customs union and single market membership that we have now.”

He wants any additional checks to be “done as far away from the port and the border as possible”.

Chris Yarsley, policy manager of the Freight Transport Association, called for Britain to stay part of the Common Transit Convention. It is hoped this would mean goods in transit across Britain to the EU would not be stopped for inspection at the UK-EU border.

He said: “The trouble is that when we leave the European Union, I understand that we fall out of membership... We need to be invited back in.”