Reform MS accused of using deadly Falklands strike to launch party political attack

Emily Price 

A Reform MS has been accused of using a serious discussion about a devastating attack during the Falklands War which killed 32 Welsh Guards, as a platform to make a series of party political points.

During questions to the First Minister on Tuesday (September 29) Casnewydd Islwyn MS Art Wright used his slot to quiz Rhun ap Iorwerth on whether he would make representations to the UK Government supporting the Welsh Guards’ campaign to seek the truth over the RFA Sir Galahad incident.

On June 8, 1982, Argentine Skyhawk jets bombed the troop-laden unarmed and undefended British supply ship just off Port Pleasant in the Falkland Islands.

Bombs detonated inside the ship created a massive firestorm that killed 48 crew members, and wounded over 150 others.

32 Welsh Guards were killed in the strike, but the unit was blamed by some for allegedly disobeying orders to leave the boat.

The attack resulted in the single highest loss of British life in a single incident during the conflict.

The Welsh Guards have fought a multi-decade battle for the release of classified government files that would uncover why the disaster was allowed to happen and permanently clear the regiment’s name from blame.

In 2024, the Welsh Guards were exonerated when newly unsealed files showed that “no direct orders to disembark were given” to the army regiment.

Testimonies in the files also revealed a serious of serious operational blunders, such as the ship being sent to the wrong location.

However, with key parts of the 1982 inquiry, including specific witness statements, still heavily redacted or sealed, the Welsh Guards’ campaign for the truth is still ongoing.

Responding to Wright’s question, the First Minister said he was pleased the issue had been raised in the Senedd’s Chamber.

Ap Iorwerth said that during the previous week, he and other MSs had met veterans who were on the Sir Galahad and their families, and families of soldiers who lost their lives on what the First Minister described as an “awful day in Welsh history”.

He added that he recognised the frustration at not being able to access related records, and said he had written to the secretary of state for defence to make the case for their urgent release.

Wright, himself a former veteran, was able to ask a supplementary question about the incident.

However, he appeared to move away from the subject of Sir Galahad, instead using the opportunity to criticise Plaid Cymru’s leader over a series of other issues he linked to veterans.

The Reform MS hit out at the Welsh and UK governments saying their “messaging” was “very confusing”, adding that while both claimed to care about veterans, “a different tale begins to emerge” when their records are “put under the microscope”.

Wright then turned his attention to a recent meeting between the First Minister and the nationalist leaders of Sinn Féin and the SNP.

He branded Sinn Féin “the political arm of the IRA” adding that it was “responsible” for 24 soldiers’ deaths linked to Welsh regiments, including the Welsh Guards, as well as numerous casualties in Northern Ireland.

Next, the Reform MS slammed a newly proposed ethical framework targeted at the Welsh defence and aerospace sector which he said risked vital equipment “getting into the hands of those fighting on our behalf”.

Wright then raised the matter of ongoing assistance for veterans saying that despite councils signing up to the armed forces covenant, former soldiers were “being left wanting”.

He listed a number of cases including a veteran who he said had been sleeping in a bed with their mother for eight years because they could not get a house.

Wright also described a recovering alcoholic who he said had been housed above a pub and other homeless veterans who he said had to prove that they’ve rough-slept for three to four days “before assistance will even begin”.

Rounding up his supplementary question, Wright asked if the First Minister agreed with him that this was a “betrayal of those who have fought for our safety”.

Ap Iorwerth said that although he had been initially pleased that the Reform Member had opted to raise this issue of the Sir Galahad in the Senedd, he regretted that Wright then chose to use the platform to “make a series of party political points.”

He said: “I am very proud of the work done by elected colleagues of mine, alongside elected colleagues from other parties, to protect and seek to deepen our commitment under the armed forces covenant, which is important to us, as it is to Members across political party lines here.

“I, again, refer to the stand that was made jointly by Members across political parties in support of the Sir Galahad families last week. We will support you.”

Wright could been seen on Senedd cameras heckling from Reform UK’s benches as the First Minister responded.

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