Thursday 16 November 2017

Has Carwyn deliberately misled the Assembly?

Events in Cardiff bay seem to be following  a script of the BBC series The Thick of It with allegations of a welsh equivalent of Malcolm  Tucker stalker in the corridors of the Senedd.

First minister Carwyn Jones  has been urged by Tory and Plaid Cymru AMs to say whether he misled the assembly over alleged bullying within his government.

There were angry exchanges in the Senedd chamber on Wednesday when Mr Jones declined to elaborate on what he knew and when about the claims.

In November 2014 Welsh Conservative AM Darren Millar tabled an Assembly Question to Carwyn Jones, asking:

 “Has the First Minister ever received any reports or been made aware of any allegations of bullying by special and/or specialist advisers at any time in the past three years and, if so, when and what action, if any, was taken? ”
Mr Jones responded:

 “No allegations have been made.”

 When asked by Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies in First Minister’s Questions yesterday to confirm that bullying allegations had been made to him, 

Mr Jones said:

 “What I can say is that any issues that were brought to my attention at that time were dealt with, and that’s what the answer was given and that answer is correct, back in 2014.”


Outside the chamber Mr Davies said; “The First Minister’s comments suggest that he may have misled AMs over his knowledge of allegations of bullying within Welsh Government.
 

 “The First Minister’s comments suggest that he may have misled AMs over his knowledge of allegations of bullying within Welsh Government.
"In light of this very troubling revelation, I call on the First Minister to refer himself under the Ministerial Code so that this apparent breach of the rules can be properly investigated.
"Given that Carwyn Jones is the sole arbiter of the Ministerial Code, he should, as Alex Salmond did in 2012, appoint an independent Whitehall mandarin to set in motion an independent investigation.
"A healthy and functioning democracy cannot and must not tolerate politicians, especially leaders, who are less than truthful, and AMs deserve answers as to why the First Minister knowingly withheld from them information of such gravity.”
"
A Welsh Government spokesman responded:
 “As the First Minister has already made clear, any issues that were brought to his attention in 2014 were dealt with.
"Anyone who wishes to make a formal complaint, either historic or current, are welcome to do so through his office or the office of the Permanent Secretary.”
But Carwyn had actually said  
  “No allegations have been made.”
 The Welsh Conservatives were not satisfied with this response, and a spokesman said:

  “It’s clear that the First Minister feels he can operate with complete impunity.

"As the sole arbiter of the Ministerial Code, he has, like a tuppenny Soviet dictator, decided that he is not accountable to it.
"His behaviour, and that of his office, today sends a clear message to the Welsh public: potential wrongdoing will not be scrutinised if it concerns the First Minister.
"Having already written to the First Minister, we will now be writing to the Permanent Secretary and the Presiding Officer on this matter.”

Plaid Cymru AM Adam Price later asked for the first minister to be brought back to the chamber after he "refused to respond" to questions.

"We have complete lack of clarity now as to whether the assembly was misled which is a very, very serious matter indeed,"

Labour AM Jenny Rathbone also asked for clarity on how many people had raised concerns about bullying in the government.

However Presiding Officer Elin Jones said the contents of ministers' answers were not a matter for her to determine.

Well it should be 

Either

There were no allegations as the first Minister claimed in November 2014 
or
There were allegations and  he as now claims delt with it
Or
There were allegations and he either gnored it or failed to deal with it a satisfactory manner.

To what extent these claims of bullying are part of internal  "Welsh" Lbour battles is a matter of question.

Labour AM Jenny Rathbone also asked for clarity on how many people had raised concerns about bullying in the government.

Just as in Westminster even when it a matter of public record and they are fully breifed, government  ministers  deliberately mislead elected  members 

Both Prime Minister's Question  and its Cardiff Bay equivalent  are a farce as both Thressa May  and Carwyn Jones either lie or more often simply fail to even give any answer at all 

What is supposed to be an example of our country leaders being held accountable , clearly shows that our democratic institutions need a thourough shake up.


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