Liz Saville Roberts urges Rishi Sunak to sign pledge for honest election campaign

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader has urged Rishi Sunak to sign a pledge for honest politics ahead of the next election campaign.

Liz Saville Roberts intervention comes after the Welsh Conservatives were accused of making dishonest claims relating to agriculture and business support in Wales and the relationship between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Rishi Sunak, along with Tory politicians publicly backed Welsh farmers outside the Welsh Conservative conference in Llandudno last week.

It sparked a ferocious row between the Tories and Plaid Cymru with Plaid’s Westminster leader accusing the Prime Minister of “shameless bandwagon jumping”.

On Sunday, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies claimed Plaid Cymru were in “coalition” with Labour.

The comment came amid a series of social media spats between politicians over post-Brexit agriculture reforms in Wales which have been branded “unworkable”.

The Welsh Conservatives say Plaid Cymru is responsible for cutting the rural affairs budget along with cutting business support in Wales.

The Welsh Tory leader said: “It’s a coalition in all but name. Very dishonest to claim otherwise. The so called ‘co-operation agreement’ gives Plaid access to civil servants, special advisers and ‘designated members’.

“Labour can only decimate Welsh farming because Plaid let them. If they wanted to, Plaid would pull the plug. Instead, they resort to misinformation and keep Labour in power.”

Cooperation

Plaid Cymru is an opposition party in the Senedd working with the Labour Welsh Government on 46 policy areas.

It is a cooperation agreement and not a coalition government because Plaid Cymru remain in opposition and there are no Plaid Cymru ministers in government.

The Tories have argued that the formal definition of “coalition” applies to the agreement because it is a temporary alliance between the two parties.

Plaid Cymru say the Welsh Tory claims are untrue.

The party has signed a pledge by Full Fact to commit to the standards set out for honest campaigning during the next election.

Full Fact is an independent fact checking organisation and has called on all the major parties across the country to:

• • Make sure that claims made by its leader, party and candidates are truthful.
  • Set out the party’s manifesto in ways that allow meaningful scrutiny of its pledges.
  • Ensure the party’s advertising is honest and truthful, and commit to have the party’s political advertising independently regulated.
  • Not use deceptive campaigning tactics to gain votes, and commit to new rules for honest party campaigning practices.

Pledge

Ms Saville Roberts urged the Prime Minister to sign the pledge, warning that “the alternative is to be complicit in dismantling democracy”.

Speaking in the House of Commons, she said: “Plaid Cymru has signed the Full Fact pledge for an honest general election campaign.

“One of their four asks is to renounce deceptive campaigning tactics. There is evidence of egregious misleading campaigning in Wales and elsewhere by the Conservatives in recent weeks.

“We all have a responsibility to campaign honestly, because the alternative is to be complicit in dismantling democracy.

“Therefore, will the Prime Minister sign Full Fact’s pledge for an honest election?”

The Prime Minister responded: “The Labour-run Welsh NHS is performing the worst in the UK, small Welsh businesses including pubs and restaurants are facing a crippling rise in their business rates, and indeed Welsh farmers are being decimated by the plans of the Welsh Labour Government.

“Those are the facts in Wales and we’re going to continue to point them out at every opportunity.”

Support

Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS added: “Plaid Cymru is proud to support Full Fact’s campaign. Honesty in politics is crucial if we are to restore the trust which has been eroded in recent years.

“A lack of transparency means a lack of accountability which in turn undermines our democracy and lets down voters, leaving them disillusioned and less likely to make their voice heard.

“We would urge all other parties to sign up to this pledge too so that track records and manifesto commitments can be scrutinised in full, and to ensure that public debate is always open and truthful.”