Force says policy under review pending national guidance after referral to equality watchdog

SOUTH WALES POLICE has confirmed to The Herald it is pausing controversial guidance relating to the recording of anti-Muslim hostility following criticism from Conservative MP Claire Coutinho.

The force issued the statement after Ms Coutinho, Shadow Minister for Equalities, formally referred South Wales Police to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), claiming the guidance risked creating a “de-facto blasphemy law” around discussion of Islam.

In a statement to The Pembrokeshire Herald, South Wales Police said: “We are pausing the aligning with this definition in order to consider whether to maintain or amend the adoption, pending guidance from NPCC. The force remains committed to ensuring the public safety of all of our communities.”

The response appears to indicate the force is reconsidering whether to continue using the definition in question while awaiting guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

Ms Coutinho had accused the force of instructing officers to record comments deemed to go beyond “legitimate” discussion of Islam, arguing that no equivalent standard applied to other faiths.

In a letter to the EHRC chair, she wrote that the policy risked creating “a more restrictive category of speech that applies only in the context of one religion”.

The controversy centres on concerns about how non-crime incidents are recorded and whether lawful speech could be logged by police, potentially affecting public confidence in free expression and equal treatment under the law.

South Wales Police has not said whether the guidance will ultimately be scrapped, amended or reinstated following the review.

That SWP quote is the key line. “Pausing” and “maintain or amend” suggests they know the current position may not hold. The political angle plus the Welsh/local force angle makes it strong for Herald.

RELATIVES SAY LATEST COURT BID HAS REOPENED PAIN AFTER FOUR DEATHS ON WESTERN CLEDDAU

THE FAMILIES of victims of the Haverfordwest paddleboarding tragedy have spoken of their anger after the woman jailed over four deaths failed in a bid to challenge her sentence.

Nerys Bethan Lloyd, 41, from Port Talbot, was jailed for 10 years and six months after admitting gross negligence manslaughter following the deaths of Paul O’Dwyer, Andrea Powell, Morgan Rogers and Nicola Wheatley.

The four died after a paddleboarding trip on the Western Cleddau in Haverfordwest went disastrously wrong on October 30, 2021.

Three Court of Appeal judges rejected arguments that Lloyd’s sentence was “manifestly excessive”.

The failed appeal has now prompted fresh criticism from grieving families, who say they have been forced to relive the tragedy again.

Morgan Rogers’ mother, Teresa Hall, said Lloyd should “leave the families in peace”, adding that those who lost loved ones were serving “life sentences” of their own.

Nicola Wheatley’s husband, Darren, said he broke down when the appeal was rejected, describing the decision as a moment of relief after another agonising legal hearing.

The tragedy happened during a commercial paddleboarding tour from Haverfordwest towards Burton Ferry. The group encountered the town weir in dangerous river conditions, with several participants becoming trapped in the powerful hydraulic towback.

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report later found the deaths were “tragic and avoidable”, highlighting failures in planning, risk assessment, safety briefings, equipment and awareness of the danger posed by the weir.

At sentencing, the court heard Lloyd had failed to produce a written risk assessment for the trip and that the group had not been properly warned about the weir.

The case remains one of Pembrokeshire’s most devastating modern tragedies, with the deaths sending shockwaves through Haverfordwest and across Wales.

Lloyd remains in custody following the failed appeal bid.

KEMI BADENOCH has called for the abolition of the legal duty requiring public bodies to consider equality when making decisions.

The Conservative leader said the Public Sector Equality Duty had become a burden on schools, hospitals, police forces and councils, claiming it had allowed “dangerous and divisive agendas” to take hold across public services.

The duty, introduced under the Equality Act 2010, applies to public authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. It requires them to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between people with and without protected characteristics.

Those protected characteristics include age, disability, race, sex, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.

Badenoch said the duty had created a “minefield” around public decision-making, leaving major decisions vulnerable to legal challenge.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday morning, she said the public sector aspect of the Act had failed to allow for “common sense”.

She said people in public services had become scared to do their jobs properly “in case they were called racist”.

The Conservatives say the proposal is part of a wider programme to “restore common sense” in public life. The party argues that the equality duty has encouraged diversity, equality and inclusion bureaucracy, ideological box-ticking, and confusion within public services.

Shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho said public bodies were increasingly “obsessing” over equality rather than focusing on their core duties.

She said police officers, in particular, were being forced to make difficult decisions while navigating equality guidance that could cloud their judgement.

Haverfordwest

Badenoch also referred to a number of high-profile cases, including the Nottingham attacks carried out by Valdo Calocane, the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton by Vickrum Digwa, and the Manchester Arena bombing carried out by Salman Abedi.

Calocane, who killed three people in Nottingham in June 2023, has strong links to Pembrokeshire. He was from Haverfordwest, attended Sir Thomas Picton School, now Haverfordwest High VC School, and his parents still believed to live in the town.

The case remains highly sensitive, with previous criticism focused on police and health service failings in the lead-up to the killings. Badenoch suggested such cases had fuelled concerns that frontline agencies had become too cautious in exercising judgement for fear of accusations of discrimination.

Badenoch was also in Pembrokeshire last month, visiting Pembroke Refinery, where she spoke to The Herald about the upcoming Senedd elections.

Political divide

The Equality and Human Rights Commission defended the duty, saying it helps public bodies make better decisions by considering the impact of their actions on all those affected.

The issue has become a dividing line between the main political parties. Reform UK has said the Conservatives are not going far enough, arguing that the Equality Act itself should be scrapped.

The Liberal Democrats accused Badenoch of trying to reignite culture war politics, while Labour is preparing to publish a new equality and diversity strategy focused heavily on class and socio-economic background.

The government says its plan will aim to improve access to the civil service for people from working-class and regional backgrounds, and address the over-representation of people from wealthier families in senior public roles.

The Public Sector Equality Duty has previously been used in legal challenges against councils and government departments, including cases involving library closures, care home fees, and the Home Office’s treatment of the Windrush generation.