On Tuesday morning, Nation.Cymru revealed a major scoop which, if true, shows that Vaughan Gething misled the Covid-19 Inquiry when he gave evidence to it. A leaked iMessage emerged in which Gething states, “I’m deleting the messages in this group. They can be captured in an FOI [Freedom of Information request] and I think we are all in the right place on the choice being made.”
During the Covid-19 Inquiry hearings in Cardiff in March, its lead counsel Tom Poole KC quoted an email sent to the private secretaries of all Welsh Government ministers in April 2021, stating the need for good record-keeping. Gething said in his response, “so I understood that we’d kept and maintained all the information that we should do, and it would be made available to this inquiry.”
Scandal after scandal
The leaked message from Gething and his reply to Poole in March don’t seem compatible to me. The First Minister has been embroiled in scandal after scandal over the last few months, and this leak could – and should – be the end of the road for him.
We’re surely at the stage where Gething’s political teflon armour has worn off. I worry that, if he clings on, our fragile Welsh democracy will be jeopardised – by one man’s sense of self-importance, and a party machine that puts itself before the country it should exist to serve.
The ex-Labour minister Lee Waters broke ranks and made a passionate call for Gething to repay his donations. I’d urge all Welsh Labour MSs with misgivings to join Waters in voicing them, breaking ranks, and doing the right thing. You owe Wales that. Gething must resign.
Where’s Gething?
Gething has been even less visible than the eponymous character in the popular kids’ book Where’s Wally?. Our First Minister was missing during key debates on calls for an inquiry into his notorious donations scandal, and whether there should be a cap on donations to individuals in Welsh politics. He failed to appear, indeed, until all the awkward questions had passed.
It’s a choice that displays an inability or unwillingness to lead a country with accountability and transparency. When pertinent questions of such immense public interest are being asked, then answers need to be given. Yet Gething, in a move akin to an infamous Boris Johnson incident – when the then-PM hid from the press in a walk-in fridge – chose to make himself scarce when elected representatives sought answers.
Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the opposition, could barely hide his amazement when informed that Gething wouldn’t be present for such an important debate. I’m hardly one to heap praise on the combative culture-warrior, but Davies was right to be shocked and correct in demanding the First Minister be held to account.
When Gething eventually deigned to grace the Senedd chamber with his presence, there was another extraordinary turn of events. Rather than explain himself, he sat in silence and left it to the veteran Labour chief whip, Jane Hutt, to defend matters on his behalf. A truly remarkable display of lack of leadership.
Is Gething like Johnson in thinking he can do and say as he pleases, as his party’s supporters will back him no matter what? Perhaps he thinks answering awkward questions about his behaviour and decisions is somehow beneath him? Or is it simply a paucity of leadership ability? Same may say it’s all three. And I think they’d be right.
The Well-being of Future Generations Act
The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is supposed to ensure that the Welsh Government and wider public sector work to improve the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of Wales. It’s odd, then, that the Labour Welsh Government is content to run an ideological wrecking ball through Wales’ arts, culture, and heritage institutions.
As this column has previously explored, government-imposed cuts on the national museum and the arts generally will have serious consequences. Our arts, cultural institutions, and heritage are multifaceted. Current political office holders are caretakers of these valuable assets, and owe it to future generations to safeguard them.
They also owe it to future generations to fully develop these artistic, cultural, and historic assets as economic resources. They’re gems in Wales’ crown – they should be made as accessible as possible and marketed domestically, UK-wide, and internationally. I believe the Labour Welsh Government has been incredibly short-sighted about their economic potential as well as their cultural necessity.
Philip Davies, Deputy Leader of the Wales Green Party, further highlighted these issues last week in an opinion piece for Bylines Cymru. He praised the intentions of the Act, “but these (laws) are pointless if they are not adhered to by a party more interested in maintaining the neoliberal status quo than doing what’s in the best interests of young people in Cymru”.
To PCC, or not to PCC?
As I touched upon two weeks ago, in eager anticipation, it was the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections last week! In the event, there are no changes in any of the four Welsh police areas.
Labour retained three police areas by topping the polls in the north, south, and Gwent. Plaid Cymru retained Dyfed-Powys. You’d be forgiven for not being aware the PCC campaign had taken place or that it was even polling day, such was the lack of effort from all parties.
That lack of enthusiasm was reflected by voter turnouts in all areas being below 20%. Yet each holder of this role receives a publicly funded salary between £70,000 and £85,000 per year, depending on the size and resources of the police area.
The politicisation of the police is not something that has ever sat well with me. The incredibly low turnout indicates that the public are hardly engaged with this one of David Cameron’s main ‘achievements’ either. Perhaps we’ve reached the stage when a conversation is had about whether PCCs are an asset to the public, and provide value for money.
For Wales, see England?
England went to the polls last week in elections for local authorities, PCCs, and mayoralties. It’ll be interesting to see whether any trends developing in England translate into similar results for Wales. I think they will, in parts of Wales anyway.
The Tories had a torrid time, losing almost half their Councillors and finishing third behind the Liberal Democrats. They also suffered a shock loss as Labour took the West Midlands mayoralty. Looking forward to the general election, a similar collapse in the Tory vote seems likely in their Welsh constituencies, with many 2019 Conservative voters likely to switch to Starmer’s Labour.
Labour made big gains but I expected it to do better, and it lost some traditional strongholds, which should be a cause for concern for the party in Wales. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Greens can eat into the Labour vote in the Valleys and Cardiff, or whether it’ll be Plaid Cymru making inroads.
The Liberal Democrats will be happy with their gains and a second-place finish in England. This may buoy their campaign for the Brecon and Radnorshire seat at Westminster. If they manage to take Fay Jones MP’s seat, it’ll be a resounding success for them, but I don’t envisage any other Welsh constituency seeing a Lib Dem surge.
One of the most interesting takeaways from the English local elections? The much-hyped Reform UK party breakthrough epically failed to materialise. It won just two seats overall; George Galloway’s Worker’s Party achieved double that. Despite being treated as a major player by the UK media, its return is pathetic. I think this form will continue in Wales at the general election, with Reform having little to show for the hype other than shaving a percentage point or five off the Tories in each constituency.
Gething away with it?
Will the First Minister be getting away with another scandal scot-free, or will this be the one that finally places him in dire jeopardy? I expect that Plaid Cymru at the very least will demand his recall by the Covid-19 Inquiry, and that he be asked awkward questions on the Senedd floor.
My eyes, though, are firmly fixed on Andrew RT Davies. What will he do? Demanding a recall to the Covid-19 Inquiry is surely a given. If Davies also chose to move for a vote of no confidence (VONC), it would be the equivalent of throwing a political hand grenade into the Senedd chamber – especially if Plaid doesn’t take that approach.
If Davies outmanoeuvres Plaid, with public calls for a VONC growing, he could put every other party in a really awkward place. Anyone not voting for a VONC would then be perceived by many in the electorate as condoning the First Minister’s behaviour.
It’s impossible for me to think about writing my next column for two weeks from now. Who knows what will have happened, or been revealed, by then? My DMs are open.
