‘There is no room for racism in my party’ – second Tory MS speaks out on racism row

Emily Price

A second shadow cabinet member has spoken out about the row over racism within the Welsh Conservatives saying, “Where it does raise its ugly head it needs to be dealt with”.

Shadow finance minister Peter Fox made the comments after two allegations of racism were aimed at the party within 24 hours.

He said: “The position of being an elected representative is a great privilege and with it comes immense responsibility so what we say and how we act is extremely important within our communities and wider society.

“I want to be clear, there is no room for racism in my party, or indeed in any party, and there should be no tolerance of it in any form. Where it does raise its ugly head it needs to be dealt with.”

‘Warped’

Mr Fox follows shadow transport minister Natasha Asghar, in publicly condemning racism within the Senedd party.

Her Newport constituency, which has the second largest Muslim community after Cardiff, was recently daubed with Nazi symbols and Islamophobic messages.

Ms Asghar, one of two Muslim MSs in the Tory Senedd group said: “Whilst there might be a few with totally warped and unacceptable views, the majority of us are decent, tolerant, and accepting people.”

Pressure has been mounting on the Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies after a faith council accused him of ‘Islamophobic race baiting’ and a text message surfaced in which one of his backbenchers made a racist slur.

Nation.Cymru published the message sent by Laura Anne Jones who branded the Chinese owners of TikTok, “chinky spies”.

She apologised for the offensive slur – but has not yet had the party whip withdrawn.

Earlier this year several other messages surfaced from a chat overseen by Ms Jones which included offensive remarks about “multiculturalism” and “gays” as well as cruel jokes about Ms Asghar.

She is also currently under investigation by police and the Standards Commissioner for allegedly falsifying accounts.

‘Race-baiting’

The Welsh Conservative leader also hit the headlines this week after he was accused of “dog whistle racism” by the Muslim Council of Wales.

Their comments came after the Tory leader demanded answers from Welsh councils about non-Halal options and penned an opinion column headlined, ‘Children SHOULD NOT be forced to eat Halal school lunches’.

He went viral on X, formally Twitter, after the issue was amplified by far-right figure Tommy Robinson.

Mr Davies says he is following up on the concerns of his constituents.

The Muslim Council of Wales said: “Andrew RT Davies is engaging in Islamophobic race-baiting, at a time when we require politicians to be the voice of reason and show moral leadership.

“The hamfisted attempts at dog-whistle racism may lead to more engagement online for Mr Davies, but have real consequences on our streets and in our mosques.”

Welsh Conservative Senedd members have become uneasy in recent days about their leader’s trademark abrasive social media style.

Tory sources told us there could be plans for a leadership challenge but there are concerns that the group wouldn’t unite behind a successor.

Legitimate questions

Although Mr Davies usually publishes posts to social media several times a day, his accounts have remained silent since yesterday evening when he hit back at the Muslim Council of Wales.

He said: “As I have explained, I was approached by a constituent regarding the availability of non-Halal meat in school meals.

“I contacted the local authority on behalf of that constituent, asking for assurances that the choice of a non-Halal meat option would be provided.

“I subsequently received correspondence from several other individuals from across Wales, so I made similar enquiries to other local authorities.

“These were legitimate questions and as an elected member, I fulfilled my responsibilities by asking them. Attempts to equate those legitimate concerns with the disorder we’ve seen on our streets is particularly irresponsible.

“Just as the thuggery we’ve seen cannot be justified by legitimate concerns on political issues, those same concerns must not be ignored by political leaders. Doing so risks leaving the field clear for extremists to exploit for their own, dangerous ends.”