Politics

Welsh Government promises ban on lying politicians

Published

3 days ago

July 4, 2024

THE WELSH Government promised to introduce a law banning lying politicians before the next Senedd election after striking a last-minute deal to avert defeat.

Mick Antoniw, who is counsel general, the Welsh Government’s chief legal adviser, reached an agreement with Adam Price just before a key vote on creating an offence of deception.

Under the elections bill, Mr Price proposed a four-year disqualification for Senedd members, ministers or candidates found guilty of deliberate lying.

Mr Antoniw stopped short of supporting criminalisation as he invited the Senedd’s standards committee, which is holding an inquiry on accountability, to make proposals.

He said: “The Welsh Government will bring forward legislation before 2026 for the disqualification of members and candidates found guilty of deception through an independent judicial process.”

In return, Plaid Cymru’s 12 members and Rhys ab Owen, who sits as an independent, abstained – with Labour winning the vote to remove clause 64 from the bill, 26-13.

Without the deal, Welsh ministers would likely have suffered defeat because the Senedd’s speaker is required to use her casting vote against amendments in the event of a tie.

Mr Antoniw, who attended his first Tory group meeting that day to try to sway its members, joked that the 11th-hour deal spared the Senedd from a 30-page speech he had prepared.

Mr Price, who represents Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said: “What has just been announced by the counsel general is truly historic, in fact it is globally pioneering.

“We now have a commitment from the government that our democracy will be the first – the first in the world to introduce a general prohibition on deliberate deception by politicians.”

He added: “For it to have public trust, it has to sit outside the political process – you can’t have politicians pointing the finger at each other and being judge and jury.”

Mr Price, who served as Plaid Cymru leader from 2018 to 2023, said a collapse in trust in politics poses an existential threat to democracies worldwide.

He said: “Democracy starts to break down if the electors can’t trust what the elected say.”

The former MP warned existing measures – such as standards committees, commissioners and Westminster’s recall system – have all failed to solve the credibility problem.

Mr Price said a small minority of politicians deliberately distort the truth for their own gain but they poison the well for everyone else.

Labour’s Lee Waters said there is consensus across the chamber that deliberate lying undermines public trust in politics and needs to be rooted out.

He said: “I was elected in 2016 – before the Brexit referendum, before Donald Trump … before Boris Johnson lied his way to Downing Street then lied his way out again. There’s no doubt politics in this country has become darker … and I worry we’re adjusting to it.”

The former minister said he has witnessed lying, manipulation, racist abuse, arson and mobs whipped up by the far-right descending on his Llanelli constituency over the past year.

“It’s been an awful, upsetting experience seeing this ugliness becoming quietly normalised,” said Mr Waters, who abstained in an earlier vote to allow further debate on the issue.

He reiterated support for a criminal offence of deception because it would set a high bar and the courts are independent. “People don’t trust politicians to regulate themselves,” he said.

Peter Fox gave the Conservatives’ backing for Mr Price’s plan, pressing ahead in voting against the Welsh Government’s amendment despite the announcement.

He said: “I’m anxious .. that the way forward that may be proposed may not give the parliamentary time to enable things to go forward whereas the current course would.”

Alun Davies, a Labour backbencher, denounced a tweet by Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Conservative group, posted on the morning of the debate on July 2.

The Blaenau Gwent MS said: “A single message ‘Labour wants to pay illegal immigrants £1,600 a month’ – something we know which is completely untrue … no basis of truth at all.”

He argued against bringing the criminal justice system into politics, saying: “A parliament shouldn’t be subject to judicial oversight … [it] should be able to govern its own affairs.”

James Evans sympathised with Mr Price’s proposal, saying he thought it would go some way to rebuilding public confidence in politicians.

But he cautioned the plan could do “real democratic damage” as he raised risks to parliamentary privilege – legal immunities which allow politicians to speak freely.

Mr Evans suggested Senedd members could face a flurry of defamation lawsuits. “I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder every time I say something,” he said.

The Tory MS for Brecon and Radnorshire told the Senedd: “I don’t think it is right that someone’s personal views could be challenged in court.”

Caerphilly’s Labour MS Hefin David agreed on privilege, adding that the far-right or hard-left politicians might use “criminalisation of their views” as a “badge of honour”.

Jane Dodds said political dishonesty is corroding public trust, warning that protections in Cardiff Bay and Westminster are woefully inadequate.

Warning that lying flourishes because politicians can get away with it, Ms Dodds told the chamber: “We have to do more – there is no excuse.”

The Lib Dems’ leader in Wales raised a “shocking” survey which revealed 45% of people rarely, if ever, trust governments to prioritise national interests over party politics.

Ms Dodds, who represents Mid and West Wales, said: “Truth in our society is fragile and vulnerable. Our goal is straightforward: it is to stop politicians … from calculated lying.

“That is an act that can have a deep, often traumatic consequence to people’s lives. And let’s be clear here: freedom of speech is not freedom to lie.”

News

What new Parliament would look like under proportional representation

Published

10 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Electoral Reform Society has modelled what the new parliament would look like after the general election under proportional representation.

The modelling shows what Parliament would look like under the Additional Member System (AMS) [1] of proportional representation (PR), which is used for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments as well as the London Assembly, compared to the results under the current Westminster system of First Past the Post (FPTP)

	Vote share	AMS – MPs	FPTP – MPs
Labour	33.7%	236	412
Conservatives	23.7%	157	121
Reform	14.3%	94	5
Lib Dems	12.2%	77	71
Greens	6.8%	42	4
SNP	2.5%	18	9
Plaid	0.7%	4	4

A visual representation of how the results would look for PR compared to the First Past the Post results can be found here https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/18633267/

The Parliament elected under PR would far more closely reflect the way the country voted. It could lead to a number of scenarios politically, and likely lead to a government that represented a far greater share of voters. For instance, a Labour, Lib Dem, Green coalition under AMS would represent 52.7% of voters, rather than the just 33.7% represented by the Labour majority government.

In the coming weeks the Electoral Reform Society will also be releasing a model of the 2024 General Election result under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system of PR, which is the ERS’s preferred system and used in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The model comes after the general election produced the most disproportional parliament in British electoral history.

The results saw the Labour Party win 64% of seats (412) with just under 34% of the votes. Meanwhile, Reform UK and the Green Party won just 9 seats (just over 1%) between them with over 20% of the vote share combined.

Research by the Electoral Reform Society also showed that Labour won an MP for every 24,000 votes they received, compared to one for every 49,000 for the Lib Dems, one MP for every 56,000 votes for the Conservatives, one for every 485,000 votes for the Greens and one for every 820,000 for Reform.

Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society said: “The job of Parliament is to represent the way the country voted. However, this election has produced the most disproportional result in British electoral history.

“This is because of the distorting Westminster First Past the Post voting system, which means the seats parties get in Parliament often are not matching the share of the votes they’ve received.

“In simple terms, people should get what they vote for. Our modelling shows what Parliament would look like with a fairer proportional voting system such the ones used for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

“It’s time we moved to a fairer proportional voting system for Westminster so Parliament accurately reflects the way the country voted.”

News

The National Eisteddfod 2026 could be held in Pembrokeshire

Published

10 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE National Eisteddfod 2026 could be held on the outskirts of Cardigan, just inside Pembrokeshire if Pembrokeshire County Council formalise the proposal.

It would mark 850 years since the first Eisteddfod was held in the town by Lord Rhys.

The site is in Llantood, between Cardigan and Eglwyswrw on the Pembrokeshire side of the border.

“The Cabinet is now asked to formally approve a proposal by the Welsh Local Government Association to host the 2026 Eisteddfod in Pembrokeshire at a site in Llantood, just off the A487,” said the council agenda.

“Following an expression of interest by the former Leader in 2022, the Welsh Local Government Association has confirmed that the 2026 National Eisteddfod will be held in Pembrokeshire.”

The document adds: “There are also several historical reasons for the decision as 2026 marks 850 years since the establishment of the Eisteddfod in the Teifi Valley area.”

The document stated that the council has two options:

The Cabinet approves the decision to host the Eisteddfod at the Llantood site.
The Cabinet withdraws its application to host the festival.

The council document stated that officials recommend “approving the proposal to host the 2026 Pembrokeshire National Eisteddfod at the Llantood site within the Teifi Valley.”

The Cardigan Eisteddfod of 1176, held over Christmas, is the first known Eisteddfod. It was hosted by Lord Rhys of Deheubarth at his court in Cardigan.

Politics

Total annihilation of Tories in Wales

Published

2 days ago

July 5, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE WELSH Conservative Party has been completely wiped out in Wales in the latest General Election, marking a significant shift in the political landscape of the region. Labour emerged victorious, securing all but five of the 32 Welsh Commons seats. Plaid Cymru captured four seats, while the Liberal Democrats won Brecon, Radnor & Cwm Tawe.

In stark contrast to the 2019 election results, where the Tories held 14 of the 40 seats, Labour had 22, and Plaid Cymru maintained their four seats. This recent outcome represents a dramatic change, with Labour now holding 27 seats in Wales.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies expressed his disappointment on X, stating, “We are a party that exists to govern and improve people’s opportunities. Let’s be frank: We’ve let a lot of people down.”

He acknowledged the party’s solid record in Welsh communities across various levels of government, from local councils to the Senedd and Parliament, and emphasised the need to rebuild the party ahead of the 2026 elections. Davies stressed the importance of not taking lifelong Conservative voters for granted as the first step in this rebuilding process.

This election marks the first time in 23 years that the Tories have been entirely ousted from Wales, reminiscent of the 2001 scenario when there was no Conservative representation in the region. The ‘Boris bounce’ that turned much of North Wales blue in 2019 has now dissipated, returning those constituencies to Labour.

Plaid Cymru also had a strong showing, retaining their four seats, and the Liberal Democrats managed to secure one seat. The early signs of this outcome were apparent when the now-former Welsh Secretary, David TC Davies, conceded defeat hours before the results were announced, stating he had only prepared a concession speech.

An intriguing development in this election was the performance of Reform UK, which came second in 12 of the Labour victories, surpassing the Tories and other parties. This could pose a challenge for Labour in the upcoming Senedd elections in 2026.

As the Welsh Tories reflect on their losses, Andrew RT Davies has reiterated the party’s failures and the need for substantial change. Despite the setbacks, the Conservatives still hold 16 of the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd, while Welsh Labour has half the seats, Plaid Cymru has 13, and the Welsh Lib Dems have one seat, now occupied by Jane Dodds, MP for Brecon, Radnor & Cwm Tawe.

Nationally, the Conservative Party is predicted to win just 131 seats, the lowest in its history, while Labour is projected to secure 410 seats, achieving an overall majority of 170. This wider national trend underscores the significant challenges facing the Conservative Party as they move forward.