Muslim Council calls on Welsh politicians to seek social unity as grooming gang row spills into Senedd

Emily Price

The Muslim Council of Wales has called on Welsh politicians “to seek social unity” after a UK Government row over the grooming gangs scandal spilled over into the Senedd today.

During chaotic scenes in the Welsh Parliament, the Conservatives were accused of making “sleazy political points” after the former leader of the group, Andrew RT Davies, shared a video of school girls online.

The South Wales Central MS said 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.

He had shared the footage from a far-right account who claimed the girls were being used to entice migrant men to the UK.

But it 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.

Mr Davies was later reported to the Senedd standards commissioner by the Welsh Refugee Council who said it had to close its offices after staff received abuse.

Complaint

He was embroiled in a separate row back in August when the Muslim Council of Wales accused him of “Islamophobic race baiting” over claims he made about Welsh school children being forced to eat Halal meat.

Over the weekend, he recirculated an old headline to his social media channels and branded journalists “irresponsible” for news coverage of the past allegations which he said were “baseless”.

In a post to Facebook, he said: “It came from the Muslim Council of Wales, an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain. It’s an organisation successive UK Governments have refused to engage with, due to extremism concerns.”

In the comments section, one of Mr Davies’ followers said Muslims “live their lives following sky fairies and worse”.

Responding directly to the comment, Mr Davies said: “Be assured I am ignoring them.”

Following the allegations of racism aimed that the Welsh Tories over the summer, Darren Millar, who is also the Chair of the Senedd’s Faith Committee, reached out to the Muslim Council.

During a visit to the Mosque in Llandudno in October, he said: “As a person of faith, I will always stand with the Muslim community in the face of hate and intolerance.”

Direction

Mr Millar was appointed the new Tory leader in November after Mr Davies was asked to step down amid criticism from within his own group about the direction he was taking the party.

During FMQs today, the pair both raised the issue of the grooming gangs scandal.

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.

Mr Millar called on First Minister Eluned Morgan for a Wales specific inquiry into the matter after describing the experience of a victim who was “gang-raped” 1000 times.

He was reprimanded by the Senedd’s Llywydd, Elin Jones, for using “overly descriptive” language that was not “totally respectful of the victim”.

Later during the session, Andrew RT Davies raised the same issue as he was heckled by opposition parties.

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”.

Division

The Muslim Council of Wales said that division stoked online had turned neighbours against each other.

In a statement, the group said: “The Muslim Council of Wales believes that Wales is better than the discourse on social media which does little than spread lies, slander communities, and seeks to help no one.

“We have witnessed, over the last few weeks, a race to the bottom with influencers and oligarchs seeking to stoke division, tensions and disunity turning neighbours against each other.

“Across Wales, Muslims with their neighbours of all faiths are part of efforts to build stronger communities – whether through food banks, responding to the impact of recent floods, or campaigning for a more peaceful world. These are the values that must be celebrated, and cultivated.

“Muhammad, The Messenger of God, (May Peace Be Upon Him) said: ‘The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people.’

“The Muslim Council calls on all in elected office to exercise wisdom and seek social unity, rather than engage in sensationalist calls for division and hatred.”