Vaughan Gething: Wales’s first minister loses confidence vote

Published

4 months ago

June 5, 2024

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Wales’s first minister has lost a confidence vote.

Twenty-nine members of the Senedd voted in favour of the motion of no confidence in Vaughan Gething, while 27 voted against.

Mr Gething has only been first minister since March, but in that time he has faced questions over a controversial £200k donation to his leadership campaign from a man convicted of environmental offences.

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He said the donations had been made in line with party protocols and has refused calls to return the money.

The motion of no confidence was put forward by the Conservatives, the largest opposition group in the Senedd (Welsh parliament).

Despite losing, Mr Gething does not have to step down as the vote is not binding, but it does put further pressure on the embattled leader.

He has made clear in the aftermath of the debate he will not resign as first minister and will continue in post.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has given his backing to the party’s leader in Wales, telling reporters on the campaign trail Mr Gething was doing a “good job”.

‘Not a gimmick’

Introducing the motion tabled by his party, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said it was “not a gimmick”.

“This was talked of prior to the general election,” he said.

“It is about judgement, honesty and transparency.”

Leader of Plaid Cymru, the pro-independence party, denied the motion was “tribal party politics”.

“We must be different to Westminster, not only in words but in deeds too,” he said.

“Today, we, these benches, are acting in what we firmly believe in the interests of the people of Wales.”

But chair of the Welsh Labour group in the Senedd, Vikki Howells, said the motion was “politics at its worst” and was a “cynical Tory gimmick”.

“With the Tory party tanking in the polls…it’s no wonder that they will do anything, anything at all to try and shift the spotlight from their own record of abject failure,” she said.

One Labour member, Joyce Watson, said the decision to hold the confidence vote on the eve of the D-Day anniversary was “disrespectful” to veterans.

Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds said she no longer had confidence in the first minister.

But she said she had “never voted in a vote of confidence here in the Senedd” and had in fact voted to confirm Mr Gething as first minister in March.

‘Mistakes’

Responding to the debate, Wales’s first minister said he has “made and will continue to make mistakes”.

“It does hurt deeply when my intentions are questioned,” Mr Gething added.

“I will not shy away from scrutiny and challenge.”

He reiterated that all rules had been followed.

Speaking after the vote, Mr Gething said it was a “very disappointing afternoon”.

“To go into the Senedd for what is a transparent gimmick in the general election, led by the Welsh Conservatives, to go into a position where the ill-health in two of our members has affected the outcome of the vote,” he said.

“And as I said, on ill-health grounds, we have always paired. That means you even up people from one party to another.

“We did that for more than three months for the leader of the Welsh Conservatives.”

He said he was “proud” to be first minister of Wales.

“To serve and lead my country. That’s what I’ve done today. That’s what I’ll carry on doing,” he added.

As well as questions over donations, Mr Gething has in recent weeks faced accusations he misled the COVID Inquiry over deleted messages and sacked one of his ministers for allegedly leaking information to the media.

That former minister was one of two Labour members who were absent for the confidence vote.

Neither Hannah Blythyn nor former transport minister Lee Waters voted.

Plaid Cymru then withdrew from a cooperation deal they had with the Labour government in which the party lent its support on dozens of key policy areas.

Politics

Angela Rayner to announce renters’ protections at opening of Labour Party conference

Published

1 hour ago

September 22, 2024

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Angela Rayner to announce renters' protections at opening of Labour Party conference

Angela Rayner will set out measures to protect renters from fire safety defects, damp and mould in her speech at the Labour Party conference.

The deputy prime minister, who is also the housing secretary, will commit to “building homes fit for the future” when she opens the party’s first annual gathering since winning the general election.

The package will include bringing forward a Remediation Acceleration Plan this autumn to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings.

Deadly cladding remains on more than half of all residential blocks of flats identified as at risk since the Grenfell fire in 2017.

The issue has come back into the spotlight following the conclusion of the inquiry into the tragedy, which found that “systematic dishonesty” contributed to the blaze that killed 72 people.

The announcement of the acceleration plan was thin on detail, but the government said it would go “further and faster to fix unsafe cladding and make existing homes safe”.

Other measures Ms Rayner will announce on Sunday include consulting on a new “decent homes standard” for the social and private rented sectors, and a new law to make landlords respond to complaints about disrepair within legally binding timescales.

These have already been announced as part of Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which builds on long-awaited legislation that was promised by the Tories but ultimately shelved ahead of the general election.

The law regarding repairs will be named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died as a direct result of exposure to mould in the social home his family rented in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The Conservatives first proposed Awaab’s Law to cover the social rented sector, but Labour will extend it to cover the private sector in a move they say will help tenants in 746,000 homes with reported serious hazards secure faster repairs.

Commenting ahead of her speech, Ms Rayner, who has also pledged to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years, said: “Just because Britain isn’t working at the moment, it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.

“We will deliver for working people and, in doing so, show that politics can change lives.

“This Labour government is taking a wave of bold action to not only build the housing our country needs and boost social and affordable housing, but to ensure all homes are decent, safe, and warm.”

The speech comes as a donations row threatens to overshadow the optimistic mood of the party’s first conference while in government for 15 years.

The prime minister has come under scrutiny over the past week for the more than £100,000 worth of gifts he has accepted, including tickets to football matches, concerts and luxury clothes.

Following days of press coverage on the issue, it emerged on Friday that Sir Keir and his most senior ministers – Ms Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves – will no longer accept donations to pay for clothes.

On Saturday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News that there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by her colleagues but “we don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes”.

She defended the prime minister’s actions as being within the rules, saying that the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things “so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind”.

She added: “We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

Politics

IMF staff propose REDI framework to catalyze CBDC adoption

Published

2 hours ago

September 22, 2024

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IMF staff propose REDI framework to catalyze CBDC adoption

IMF staff members introduced a high-level four stage framework, emphasizing regulation, education, design, and incentives to enhance CBDC adoption.

Politics

Education secretary defends £14k donation as ‘declared properly and thoroughly’

Published

2 hours ago

September 22, 2024

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Education secretary defends £14k donation as 'declared properly and thoroughly'

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has defended receiving a donation of £14,000 from a Labour peer embroiled in a freebies row, saying it was “declared properly and thoroughly”.

An article in the Mail on Sunday claimed the minister had used some of the money from Lord Waheed Alli to pay for her 40th birthday party.

But speaking to Sky News from the Labour Party conference, Ms Phillipson insisted the donation paid for two events in a “professional… work context”, with attendees including representatives from the education sector, trade unions and political journalists.

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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire this week for accepting more than £100,000 worth of gifts since becoming party leader in 2019, including tickets to football matches, concerts, and luxury clothes for him and his wife – the latter of which was covered by Lord Alli.

It also emerged Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have received donations used for purchasing clothes by the long-standing Labour peer.

All three, who declared the donations on their register of interests, have now vowed to no longer accept funds in the future to pay for clothing.

Asked by Sky News’ Trevor Phillips whether they would now hand the money back, Ms Phillipson said: “Well, if they’ve declared it in line with the rules and they’ve followed [the rules], as very clearly they have, then I see no reason to do so.”

She added: “Look, the reason that we can have this conversation is because colleagues have followed the rules. I’ve followed the rules. I’ve set out in the register of interests, what donations were for who they were from, and that’s there for the public to see.”

The minister said it was “frustrating” to have to discuss the row as Labour’s conference gets into full swing on Sunday, rather than “the wider agenda”, adding: “Of course, this is a distraction. I’d much rather be talking to you about bigger issues.

“But you know, I’m happy to set out our position very clearly.”

Pushed to explain her own donations from Lord Alli – a television executive who has donated to Labour over the past 20 years – the education secretary said: “It was used to fund two events, all of which was declared properly and thoroughly. That’s why that information is in the public domain.

“The first event was ahead of my birthday, so I was turning 40. I thought it was a good opportunity to get people together in a professional context, so it was journalists, trade unionists, education people, MPs and shadow cabinet.

“The second event was an event that I held also again for lobby journalists, for people in the education world, as part of a reception. It was in a work context.”

She added that she celebrated her “actual 40th birthday” with her family,” saying: “We went for a pizza. I celebrated with my kids.”

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