Chaotic scenes at FMQs over Tory child grooming scandal claims

Emily Price 

The Welsh Conservatives have been accused of using young school girls to make “sleazy political points” during a chaotic row in the Senedd today over the UK Government grooming gangs scandal.

During a tense FMQs session in Cardiff Bay on Tuesday (January 14), the newly appointed leader of the opposition, Darren Millar, pressed Eluned Morgan to support a new probe into the issue.

The UK Government has faced a slew of attacks after Home Office minister Jess Phillips declined a request for a nationally-led inquiry into child exploitation that took place in the north of England over a decade ago.

The Tories in Westminster joined calls by tech billionaire Elon Musk for a new inquiry into the scandal – despite a wide-ranging independent probe having concluded its work in 2022.

‘Trafficked’

Speaking in the Chamber, Mr Millar said that young girls had been “recruited by grooming gangs here in south Wales” before being “gang- raped” and then “trafficked to Telford, Hereford and Blackpool.”

He said: “One victim has even said that she was strangled she was threatened with a knife and her home was threatened with being burned down.

“She was raped, I’m afraid to say First Minister, 1000 times. She didn’t know the number of perpetrators.”

The Senedd’s Llywydd, Elin Jones, intervened telling the leader of the opposition he was being “overly descriptive” and not being “totally respectful of the victim”.

Mr Millar – who is also the Chair of the Senedd’s Faith Committee – argued he was “just reading facts”.

‘Discrimination’

As MSs called out across the Chamber, Ms Jones said: “No no no, you’re not. The use of language in this place needs to make sure that you are keeping well away from any kind of discrimination or inciting of any kind of discrimination.

“You were doing very well with your first two questions and avoiding that. But in your third one you’ve become overly descriptive and I need you to reflect on that and just ask the question again.”

As the Tory leader continued to give a speech on grooming gangs, the Llywydd raised her voice saying he was keeping to his script an not listening to her advice.

She said: “If you do not ask your question in the next ten seconds, I’m going to ask you to sit down. I did not expect to have to do this to you in your first few weeks as leader of the Welsh Conservative party in here.”

‘Disappointed’

Mr Millar said his question to the FM was whether she would commission a Welsh inquiry into child exploitation by grooming gangs in Wales.

Eluned Morgan said she was “disappointed” in the Tory leader’s approach.

She said: “I can make it clear that I have asked questions about this as an issue in Wales of the police. I think that what is important is we recognise that actually in Wales we have legislated – there are duties in Wales to report which are introduced back in 2014.

“As a part of the social services and well-being act there is a legal duty on agencies including health boards, police probation and local authorities to inform the local authority if they have reasonable cause to suspect that the child or an adult with care support needs in their area is at risk of abuse neglect or harm. That’s in our law – it already exists.”

Misinformation

Later in the session, Conservative backbencher Andrew RT Davies also raised the issue of the grooming gangs scandal.

The former Tory leader was reported to the Senedd standards commissioner by the Welsh Refugee Council this week over a “factually incorrect and misleading” video of school girls from a school in Bridgend.

Mr Davies claimed the girls were being used as “propaganda” by the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary plan – an initiative to help refugees and asylum seekers integrate into Welsh communities.

It later transpired that the video of the children had been filmed over a year ago as part of a project to welcome families fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

Racism

Backbench Labour MS Alun Davies told the Senedd it was “deeply disturbing and distasteful” that the former Tory leader had used “heavily edited images” of school children to prosecute a case “dripping with racism and prejudice”.

He called on “decent people in Wales” to condemn Andrew RT Davies and the Welsh Conservatives for the way they had pursued the issue.

Darren Millar could be heard shouting across the Chamber saying, “Ask your question! Ask your question!”

Mr Davies hit back saying, “I have a louder voice than you” adding that refugees shouldn’t be used to to score “sleazy political points”.

‘Dangerous’

Later, during the business statement segment of Plenary, Plaid Cymru MS Sioned Williams said the Welsh Refugee Council had suffered abuse following the “deliberate spreading of misinformation” by the far-right which was amplified by a Tory MS.

She said: “I want to put on record Plaid Cymru’s support for the Welsh Refugee Council and the work they do supporting sanctuary seekers and refugees, fostering understanding and promoting inclusion in our communities.

“We cannot let the work be undermined nor the safety nor the safety of those are supporting to be compromised.”

Trefnydd Jane Hutt said the video shared by Andrew RT Davies had been withdrawn over a year ago after the Bridgend School was subjected to abuse.

She said: “I wanted to inform the Senedd that I’ve spoken to the Welsh Refugee Council – I met with them today with my officials, and my officials also met with them on Sunday night.

“They have had to close their offices and seek advice from the police about the impact that this misinformation that’s been recirculated has had on them.

“We are liaising with the police and partners to address this matter and can I say as Trefnydd we encourage members to refrain from promoting these dangerous false claims.”