Journalists’ union condemns Reform Wales over post mocking journalist at work

Emily Price

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Wales has accused Reform’s Senedd group of attempting to intimidate journalists after it shared a covertly taken image on social media mocking a reporter while he was working.

Reform Wales’ official X account published a blurry photograph, taken without permission, of author and columnist Will Hayward sitting with three Plaid Cymru Members of the Senedd.

The image was reposted by Welsh leader Dan Thomas and Reform Senedd Members Francesca O’Brien and Claire Archibald.

The photo was captioned: “This is ‘award winning impartial journalist’, Will.

“He’s having lunch with his Plaid Cymru mates. Don’t be like Will.”

The post was deleted several hours later after receiving thousands of views on X and being shared by a far-right social media account on Facebook.

The photo was taken in the Senedd’s private staff canteen while the For Wales, See Wales podcaster carried out interviews ahead of a key vote on the Welsh Government’s supplementary budget.

The staff canteen is accessible to anyone with a Senedd pass, including MSs, journalists and staffers.

Interviews

Hayward spends a few days a week working in the canteen where he carries out interviews with Members of all political parties, including Reform Wales.

Although there are no specific rules prohibiting covert photography in the Senedd’s staff canteen, it is understood that complaints were made about Reform Wales’s publication of the image.

The party appeared to target Hayward days after he published a story in his newsletter which revealed that Reform MS Cai Parry-Jones owns shares in an oil company while opposing measures to tackle climate change.

The NUJ in Wales accused Reform of undermining press freedom by targeting a journalist at work and called for stronger safeguards to protect reporters from intimidation and exclusion.

Nation.Cymru asked Reform’s leader in the Senedd, Dan Thomas, why the image of Will Hayward working had been deleted shortly after he shared it.

We also asked why Reform Wales objected to a journalist working in the Senedd’s staff canteen and whether he had any other concerns about journalists interviewing politicians in Wales’ parliament.

Mr Thomas did not respond.

‘Bullying’

A Reform UK source said: “Can the party get any more unprofessional in Wales under the current Chief Whip???

“This is primary school playground bullying type stuff.”

In a post to social media, Will Hayward said: “The ability of the free press to scrutinise and hold politicians to account is vital in a democracy.

“The deliberate misrepresentation of a journalist’s work from the official opposition inside the Welsh Parliament is very concerning and, in my view, is an attempt to discredit and intimidate reporters. It is not acceptable.”

It comes amid reports from some Welsh journalists of an increase in abuse and threats against them since Reform became Wales’ official opposition.

Reform UK has launched several attacks on the media since the party’s Caerphilly by-election bid backfired last year.

The party in Wales has barred political journalists whose questions they object to from attending media briefings and has removed them from its press distribution lists.

Abuse

Leaked messages from an internal group chat showed that last year Reform UK’s director of communications had branded Hayward a “cunt” for questioning why the party didn’t have a Welsh leader.

Further WhatsApp messages showed the comms lead had also labelled Nation.Cymru journalists “vile nats” and ordered senior figures not to distribute any of its articles.

Last month, Reform MS Joe Martin posted a comment on X in response to a Nation.Cymru story in which he abused the publication’s news editor.

The party has lashed out at BBC Wales too with party leader Nigel Farage accusing the organisation of left-wing bias because its interim director of nations Rhuanedd Richards had previously worked for Plaid Cymru.

Reform UK has also previously used a solicitor to issue legal warnings in an attempt to prevent publications from publishing unfavourable stories about the party.

David Nicholson, co-chair of the National Union of Journalists in Wales said: “We deplore the behaviour of Reform UK in taking a photograph of a political journalist at work in the Senedd and then publishing the picture with an inflammatory comment on social media.

“An important part of any political journalist’s job in the Senedd is to speak to politicians and staff of all parties. The Senedd canteen is a place for refreshment and chatting to people of all parties.

“Publishing photos in this way risks demonising journalists and those he was talking to.

“Taking clandestine pictures of journalists at work without consent on the Senedd estate makes the transgression even worse, and this cannot be tolerated.

“We are also deeply concerned by Reform UK’s decision to ‘blacklist’ journalists and news outlets that it dislikes.

“We have argued that the party should not be allowed to hold press briefings on the Senedd estate if it is excluding those it perceives as unsympathetic to it.

“If there is currently no rule to prevent such discrimination, a new rule should be made.

“We believe in the freedom of the press in practice as well as in theory.

“That entails protecting the safety of journalists and not making them targets.”