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Chaotic scenes at FMQs over Tory child grooming scandal claims

14 Jan 2025 6 minute read
Leader of the opposition in the Senedd Darren Millar

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.”


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16 Comments
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Jeff
Jeff
23 days ago

Seems there are no decent leaders now in the Tory party. I had hoped but Mr Millar is a dud.

Now they are the Welsh GOP. Musks useful idiots.

Amir
Amir
23 days ago

Shouldn’t the correct question be: we have already had a public inquiry into grooming gangs. When will the recommendations from that inquiry be implemented?

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
23 days ago

Tory quisling Darren Millar should not throw stones when his Conservative party in London under one Margaret Thatcher ignored rumours then knighted one of the most prolific paedophiles in British criminal history namely Jimmy Seville.

Last edited 23 days ago by Y Cymro
Brychan
Brychan
23 days ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

Following evidence against Jimmy Saville in 2009. the CPS advised there was insufficient evidence to take any further action and no charges were brought. The head of the Crown Prosecution Service and Director of Public Prosecutions at the time was Kier Starmer, now Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party.

Llyn
Llyn
23 days ago

Why do the Welsh Conservative Party demand a UK wide into grooming gangs but when it comes to Covid they demand a Wales only inquiry?

Brychan
Brychan
23 days ago
Reply to  Llyn

Because health policy is devolved to Wales and criminal justice is an England and Wales responsibility. It should be noted that both the Conservative and Labour Party oppose devolving criminal justice to Wales.

Erisian
Erisian
23 days ago

Given that they must have already scraped through the bottom of the barrel some years back you have to wonder how much lower they can go. I’m starting to think they may not actually have a microgram of decency between them.
Yet Farage’s Ltd Company / Far-Right Drinking Club / ‘Party’ are even more of a threat

Linda Jones
Linda Jones
23 days ago

We need a national inquiry into the grooming gangs. It is a nationwide network that is still operating. There are so many questions that need answers. Why did and does the state in all it’s forms look the other way instead of prosecuting the perpetrators? It’s been going on for decades. Why aren’t the perpetrators deported? Why was the sentencing so short? And so on.

Bob
Bob
23 days ago
Reply to  Linda Jones

And why are you only interested when the perps are deportable, but look the other way when they’re not.

Gareth Westacott
Gareth Westacott
23 days ago
Reply to  Bob

Because when someone was born in the UK and is a UK citizen they have certain inalienable rights – there’s nothing we can do about that and they can’t be thrown out. But if they were born elsewhere and have acquired UK citizenship they can (I hope) and should be stripped of that citizenship. We don’t want them here and we shouldn’t have to tolerate them in our society and they should be kicked out after they’ve done their sentence. Why are you so eager to defend scum like that? …. and by the way, Linda Jones didn’t say that… Read more »

Last edited 23 days ago by Gareth Westacott
Bob
Bob
23 days ago

What relevance has any of that to protecting children?

Gareth Westacott
Gareth Westacott
22 days ago
Reply to  Bob

Well, that’s not difficult to answer, when he gets out of prison there’s a good chance he’ll re-offend. So it might save one more child from suffering the same horrific abuse that tens of thousands of other children have suffered at the hands of these monsters.. Also, it just might act as an extra tier of deterrence to anyone else tempted to rape a child to know that not only will they go prison, but that upon their release they’ll be thrown out of the country.
And again, why are you so eager to protect these scum?

Gareth Westacott
Gareth Westacott
22 days ago

I find it astonishing that at least 5 people have shown disapproval of my statement, which I would have thought any right-thinking person would agree with. I mean, what normal, decent person wouldn’t also be utterly outraged at these vile crimes. Would any one of you please care to explain why you’ve voted me down?

Barry
Barry
21 days ago

Any normal, decent person is utterly outraged at these vile crimes, no matter who commits them. This selective outrage based on the ethnicity of the perpetrators is sinister.

Cablestreet
Cablestreet
20 days ago
Reply to  Barry

Agreed

Cablestreet
Cablestreet
20 days ago

No, Bob didn’t twist her words. She wrote “Why aren’t the perpetrators deported?” That alone suggests she’s being selective.
Why didn’t she mention the twenty one all white members of the Walsall grooming gang convicted in 2023?

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