Friday, 7 February 2020

Why have the "Welsh" Tory continued to suspend Nick Ramsay from Senedd group?

There appears to be more to the story to  that Conservative assembly member who was arrested on New Year's Day and released without charge and the immediate suspension by the Senedd group 
Nick Ramsay, who represents Monmouth, was taken into custody after an incident at his home.
Gwent Police said at the time  officers arrested a 44-year-old man following a report of a "disturbance" at an address in Raglan, Monmouthshire.
He has since been released and faces "no further action" following an investigation, the force said.
Now we seem to be at the stage  where Nick Ramsay has said he has put forward "proposals" to the Welsh Conservatives aimed at ending his legal action against them.
The BBC report that 
Mr Ramsay's suspension from the party's assembly group was lifted by a Judge last week, pending a further hearing.
The Monmouth AM was suspended after he was arrested but released without charge on New Year's Day.
Mr Ramsay is suing group leader Paul Davies, claiming he broke the party's constitution in suspending him.
At last Friday's hearing Mr Davies's legal team argued for an adjournment on the basis that they had less than 24 hours to prepare for the case.
But High Court judge Jonathan Russen ruled the group suspension should be lifted until the case is heard.
He returned to the assembly this week.
Mr Davies did not attend a group meeting where Mr Ramsay was present, on Tuesday, on legal advice.
'Unfortunate dispute'
In a statement, issued on Wednesday evening, Mr Ramsay said: "I have today put clear, constructive and workable proposals to Mr Davies to bring an end to the legal case and allow Mr Davies and I to get back to working together.
"The details of the settlement proposals are confidential but I very much hope that Mr Davies will see the sense in accepting them to resolve this unfortunate dispute.
"We need to get back to working to hold the Welsh Government to account on behalf of the people we represent."
The Welsh Conservatives declined to comment.

Since we don't know the nature of the allegations first made against Mr Ramsay that led to his arrest and release without charge it is hard to see whether his continued suspension his justified

He does have a controversial record however.

In 2011, while a contender for the leadership of the Welsh Conservatives, Ramsay had to apologise after being barred from a pub following a charity pub quiz in aid of Help for Heroes. The landlord is quoted as saying that he resigned his membership of the party over the issue as "Nick Ramsay heckled the quizmaster repeatedly, telling him that his questions were rubbish. He challenged the quizmaster, a local antiques dealer, to bid £100 for a rugby jersey in an auction we held on the same evening for the charity. He was quite rude and objectionable and his comments didn't go down well – I think he'd had a few beers." [6]In 2012, Ramsay was criticised for missing a committee session; after an evening's drinking in Cardiff at a leaving party for a Labour member of staff at a Cardiff Bay pub before heading into town at closing time for a late city centre bar. He failed to notify the clerk that he was ill until two hours after the meeting was due to start. when an email was received by the clerk from a member of Mr Ramsay’s staff to say he had been taken ill during the night. Ramsay was not in the Assembly chamber for the majority of the afternoon’s session, but arrived at 5.25pm to vote on a Liberal Democrat motion of no confidence in Health Minister Lesley Griffiths.
In 2014, Ramsay was accused of having been drunk during a debate in the Assembly. The Assembly’s Presiding Officer had to launch an investigation after she received a complaint alleging that a Tory AM appeared “drunk” and made “slurred, incoherent and insolent” contributions to a debate on mental health in the Senedd, but he denies being drunk.[8] Ramsay, who also celebrated his birthday that day, had intervened twice during a speech by health minister Prof Mark Drakeford AM, who at one point told him he would pursue the matters raised directly with him outside the confines of the debate. An online clip demonstrated the awkwardness of the debate Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler, did not support the claim and no further action was taken.

We must be careful in any speculation however, though I think the Tory Group in the Senedd should tell  the electors of Monmouth  the reason why his suspension was continued  after he was released with no charge.

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