Conservative AM has accepted more free international rugby tickets than any other UK parliamentarian
A Conservative AM has accepted twice as many free international rugby tickets than any other UK parliamentarian.
The research by Nation.Cymru comes after Paul Davies, leader of the Conservative group in the Assembly, said his party would “end the Assembly gravy train” if they won power at next year’s elections.
Former Tory group leader Andrew RT Davies received 15 tickets with hospitality included to eight Wales rugby matches during this Assembly term, the register of interests shows.
He received tickets to four Six Nations matches for free since 2016, including the recent loss to France, as well as four Autumn internationals against Australia, South Africa and Japan.
Four sets of tickets and hospitality were provided to him by the WRU, while the others were given by S4C, GE Aviation, NatWest and Bute Energy.
That is double the number of international rugby matches seen for free by any member of either the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly or UK Parliament.
Plaid Cymru AM and leader Adam Price and Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, Stephen Doughty, have both seen four matches for free over the same period.
The Assembly register of interest also shows that Andrew RT Davies has more entries under category four – gifts, hospitality, material benefit or advantage – than any other AM since 2016.
As well as rugby tickets, he also received a ticket and hospitality to a Wales football match from the FAW, taking his total entries to nine.
Adam Price and Vaughan Gething have the joint second highest number of entries with six, while Tory AMs Darren Millar and David Melding, Labour AM Jane Bryant and Welsh National Party AM Neil McEvoy all have five entries.
‘Elite’
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by RT Davies but the figures will raise eyebrows further after his successor as Tory group leader, Paul Davies, vowed last week to “end the Assembly gravy train.”
Nation has already revealed that the average Tory AMs claims more in expenses than those from any other party.
Responding to the criticism in an article for Nation, Paul Davies said his opponents had gone “on the offensive by getting a bit personal.”
“I told some hard truths to members of the Cardiff Bay Bubble,” he wrote. “The Bubble is a fragile and delicate entity, and is fiercely protected by the elite within it – and by those who wish to be in it.”
In the Welsh Assembly, five AMs have seen two international rugby matches for free since 2016, while a further seven have received tickets for one match.
In the UK Parliament, three MPs have received tickets for two matches, while 15 MPs have received tickets for one match.
In the Scottish Parliament, a further four MSPs have received tickets for two matches, while four have received tickets to one.
SNP MSP and rugby enthusiast Maree Todd, who travelled to Cardiff for last weekend’s cancelled match, has received free tickets to three internationals since 2016.
No member of the Northern Ireland Assembly has declared any free rugby tickets.
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That really is not the point. Yes, if hospitality is offered, complies with the rules and is declared then that is – perhaps – acceptable.
What is clearly not acceptable is for the leader of the tory group to become sanctimonious about others while members of his own group have their very large snouts in the gravy bowl.
The Tory party criticism as I understand it is that the Cardiff elite have their snouts in the taxpayer funded trough. I think S4C who provided 1 set of tickets may partially fall into that category in that if you don’t have a tv licence the government can put you in jail. Being offered tickets by others doesn’t seem so bad to me.
If the others are offering anyone “free” tickets, why? what for? what is the payoff? No such thing as a “free” ticket, that’s the point, that’s the gravy, look at the names offering tickets, I have been with Nat West for 50 years they have never offered me a ticket, so why him? We need answers from our public servants
In most people’s eyes, buying favours
Monah Selin, Sweden’s Soc. Dem. leader, got wiped out over the “Toblerone” story in the press, though this led to other findings. Get caught now for any minor corruption in Sweden, you’re toast.
This is disgraceful “Former Tory group leader Andrew RT Davies received 15 tickets with hospitality included to eight Wales rugby matches during this Assembly term, the register of interests shows.” that means that he went to 7 matches where Wales were not involved!!! Apart from exploiting his position for financial gain, who is this man cheering for? 🙂
My cousin had a spare ticket for the French game, he decided to see if a homeless person would like to watch the game, the man jumped at the chance, had a pie and a pint and said it was one of the best experiences he ever had in his life.
Perhaps our representatives could follow suit and treat someone less fortunate than themselves when they’re offered FREE hospitality tickets !!!
I don’t necessarily have a problem with the free tickets but what I don’t understand is why he would cheer on Wales whilst representing views and actions that cause harm to Wales and the Welsh economy? Regardless of your views on Brexit he really didn’t care too much about the consequences despite being a farmer.
Andrew R.T. was clearly a bit muddled as the register of his interests also shows the family farm is a “Business…in receipt of support under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.” So he disliked the EU so much he campaigned against being part of it but still thought it ok to take money from them. Now, what’s that word I’m looking for? Starts with H. Hippopotamus? Big thing, likes rolling around in mud so would love it on a farm and a rugby field. Even better if someone else is paying towards it.
And hats off to Jason’s cousin.
Pick the right gravy train. Wales’ problem is the Labour-Third Sector complex. See Jac O’the North ad nauseam. A proper piece of journalism would have linked the rugby tickets to specific graft. eg contracts awarded. You need to watch the party that’s been in power, not the opposition.. As Labour has. in Wales. For 100 years….
Absolutely! Follow up, like the Toblerone story.
Nation Cymru needs more funds for this, so……………
What’s wrong is the welsh tories are brazen hypocrites – and if you cant see that then you need to undergo the same lengthy period in a darkened room you happily advocate for others. No wonder you choose to hide your real identity.
What a sanctimonious, scrounging hypocrite!
I cannot understand why ANY politician should be offered free tickets to events such as rugby internationals, other sports events, opera and other cultural events etc etc . These people enjoy upper quartile salaries or better yet they are often seen at major events enjoying the hospitality. It should be part of their standards of conduct in public office that such graft should not be allowed. Those dishing out the hospitality are doing it for ulterior motives – there is no such thing as a free lunch.
The whole principle of complimentary tickets for Wales’s national game is wrong, and should either be abandoned or the tickets should be allocated on the basis of outstanding service to the community by members of the public — people like Jason’s cousin.