Llywydd under fire over 20mph ‘blanket’ description

Emily Price

The Senedd’s Llywydd is under fire after refusing to confirm whether politicians can once again use the term “blanket” to describe Wales’ 20mph default speed limit.

Reform’s UK’s group in the Senedd has been using the term on the social media in recent weeks with one post published by its official Facebook page promising that the party will “scrap the blanket 20mph limit” if it ever comes to power in Wales.

Reform’s Welsh leader Dan Thomas has also used the word when talking about the policy, publishing a post earlier this month saying Plaid Cymru had “masterminded the bonkers blanket 20mph speed limit”.

The Welsh Conservatives heavily used “blanket 20mph” as a central attack line against the previous Welsh Labour Government following the roll out of the controversial speed limit in September 2023.

The policy saw significant public pushback including a record-breaking Senedd petition which clocked up hundreds of thousands of signatures.

However, the Tories were forced to stop using the “blanket” term due to formal rulings that they were bringing Wales’ parliament into disrepute.

It was argued that because local councils had the power to introduce exemptions and keep some roads at 30mph, the 20mph default speed limit was not a “blanket” restriction.

In an initial investigation in January 2024, the Senedd’s watchdog cleared then-Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies of breaching the code of conduct.

Bain explained that while the word “blanket” was inaccurate, being “imprecise and inaccurate is not synonymous with being untruthful,” as it lacked deliberate deceit.

However, by September 2024, Bain took a harsher stance against Tory MS Natasha Asghar accusing her of a “degree of moral turpitude” and “flying in the face of the committee’s report” because she continued to use the phrase on social media despite knowing that a formal ruling had already declared it false.

Asghar, who was the shadow transport minister at the time, was subsequently officially censured by the Senedd.

In October 2024, Bain investigated Andrew RT Davies a second time after he posted another tweet using the term.

The Standards Commissioner concluded that Davies had breached the code of conduct and brought the parliament into disrepute.

Bain’s rulings saw the Senedd’s previous Llywydd Plaid Cymru’s Elin Jones issue a directive to all Senedd Members not to use the word when debating the 20mph default speed limit in the Chamber.

Jones’ decision was highly controversial and triggered a fierce political debate over free speech, parliamentary semantics, and misinformation.

She officially stepped down as Llywydd of the Senedd in May after 10 years in the role.

Labour’s Huw Irranca-Davies stepped into the speaker position following the May 7 Senedd election.

He was supported by a majority of Reform UK’s newly elected Senedd Members.

With Reform UK now using the word “blanket” in its social media messaging, Nation.Cymru asked the Senedd whether use of the word when describing the 20mph default speed limit was still prohibited.

We also asked a Senedd spokesperson whether Irranca-Davies would uphold his predecessor’s ruling by preventing MSs from using the term in the Chamber.

However, we were issued with a “no comment” response.

Welsh Conservative sources argued this approach was inconsistent and unfair, given they had been prevented from using the same messaging that Reform UK in Wales was now using without challenge.

A Welsh Tory spokesperson said: “We believe politicians should be free to use ordinary language to describe policies as they see fit.”

Rod King, founder of road safety campaign group 20’s Plenty for Us, said he was surprised the new Llywydd had refused to confirm his stance on use of the term “blanket” adding that those using the word were showing a “callous attitude” to a life saving policy.

He said: “It is surprising that when the Welsh 20mph implementation is earning international acclaim, delivering a 26% reduction in casualties, reducing insurance damage-only claims by 20% and with it insurance premiums that such pejorative term as ‘blanket’ has been used to describe a 20mph default with appropriate exceptions of what is a minority of Welsh roads.

“It’s even more surprising when such a use of the term has already been judged as below the standard expected from Members of Senedd.

“Outside of Wales, the UK Government and so many more are recognising the need to move to a Safe System Approach to road safety with 20mph urban/village speed limits implicitly required.

“Wales is being used as an evidential example of best (if not necessarily perfect) practice.

“Those seeking to misinform and divide opinion so blatantly, should be sanctioned for their callous attitude to such a life-saving and life enhancing initiative.”

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