Fresh criticism for Reform MS after white discrimination claim in Senedd

Emily Price 

Concerns have been raised that a Reform Member of the Senedd is once again “pushing the limits” of acceptable conduct in the Chamber after claiming that white people in Wales are being racially discriminated against.

During Questions to the First Minister on Tuesday (July 14), Caerdydd Penarth MS Joe Martin called on Rhun ap Iorwerth to provide an update on what the Welsh Government was doing to promote equality in Wales.

The 28-year-old went on to argue that employment schemes that offer opportunities specifically to ethnic minority groups were “explicitly racist”.

He said: “Put plainly, it is anti-white discrimination, and the Welsh people will not sit idly by as we are racially discriminated against in our own country.

“First Minister, will it be your Government that delivers the return of race-blind meritocracy in Wales?”

Mr ap Iorworth responded saying the Reform MS was “pushing the limits of what the Llywydd would deem acceptable in the Chamber”.

He said: “The Member chooses to focus on the colour of skin.

“I would choose to focus on the fact that there are many people who don’t have opportunities because they live in poverty; because they happen to come from a background that has not made those opportunities open to them, as they are to somebody as privileged as I have been.”

During the exchange, Reform’s Chief Whip Llyr Powell was heard heckling and gesturing with his hands raised, while the group’s leader, Dan Thomas, sat quietly beside him.

Former Llywydd and current Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary Elin Jones was seen with her head in her hands before gesturing across the Chamber.

The newly appointed Presiding Officer Huw Irranca-Davies appeared to briefly nod when when the First Minister suggested Mr Martin was pushing boundaries.

Immediately after Mr ap Iorwerth’s remarks, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd Manon Bonner could be seen on Senedd TV cameras whispering to the Llywydd.

The Presiding Officer has faced criticism over his handling of Mr Martin since taking on the role of the Senedd’s official referee at the start of the new parliamentary term.

In June, Mr Martin made a series of remarks during a debate in the Chamber that sparked a walkout by Welsh Government Ministers and MSs from Labour and the Green Party.

The Reform MS had cracked jokes about Welsh children being unable to read and claimed that nurses were signing up for universal credit because their jobs were being given to workers from India.

Mr Martin had been rebuked by the Llywydd the same morning for making derogatory remarks about Sudanese asylum seekers.

The intervention came after ministers complained that the Reform MS had breached the Senedd’s standing orders.

In response, the Presiding Officer issued a warning to all Senedd Members that they should follow the Senedd’s rules on appropriate conduct.

The warning was later reissued directly to Mr Martin.

Political sources in Wales told Nation.Cymru there were mixed views on the Llywydd’s handling of proceedings.

Some believed he should adopt a firmer disciplinary approach, while others suggested he was deliberately seeking to avoid “giving oxygen” to controversial comments.