Senedd members agreed a 14-day suspension for Laura Anne Jones
Reform UK’s only Senedd member has been suspended from the Welsh Parliament after using racist language in a message which broke rules about the standards MSs are expected to follow. Laura Anne Jones defected to Reform UK from the Conservatives in the summer.
The investigation by the independent standards commissioner and the Senedd’s cross-party standards committee was tasked with looking into three claims against Ms Jones; falsifying expenses, unfair dismissal of a staff member and use of racist language. Only the latter was upheld.
At the time of her defection, the investigations into her conduct were ongoing and she said she was confident she would be cleared. Today, her Senedd colleagues were asked to vote on the standards committee report, which recommended she be suspended for 14 days.
No-one objected to the committee’s recommendation which therefore passed without a vote.
In Westminster, a 14 day suspension would have led to Ms Jones facing a recall petition, which could have led to her losing her position and a by-election being called, however the Senedd does not yet have the equivalent mechanism.
Speaking in the Senedd, the chair of the standards committee Hannah Blythyn said any breach was a “serious matter” and that “offensive” comments have “no place in our Senedd or society more widely”.
“The committee welcomed the fact the member and her staff have undertaken diversity training,” she said. Ms Blythyn also criticised leaks of papers relating to the complaint to the media.
This article contains the term she used, which may cause distress to readers.
Ms Jones, who represents South Wales East, used a highly offensive term in an exchange on WhatsApp about Chinese-owned video app TikTok.
In the WhatsApp exchange about TikTok Ms Jones wrote: “No chinky spies for me!”
When the message emerged, Ms Jones apologised and issued a statement saying the word was “unacceptable and I deeply regret using it”. “I sincerely apologise for any offence this has caused,” she said.
She further apologised when the standards committee report was published. She spoke in the Senedd and said she accepted the findings, and thanked the investigation.
Mr Bain investigated a complaint that was made which had three elements, that Ms Jones had made fraudulent fuel claims, that she made a racist comment and failed to address discriminatory behaviour, and that she failed to act in accordance with the code of conduct when dismissing an employee.
He rejected the complaint about fuel claims, saying he accepted that Ms Jones’ account was the most likely, and he said that it should not be his role to investigate the complainant’s dismissal by Ms Jones.
But he upheld the complaint about Ms Jones’ WhatsApp messages, saying they breached five provisions of the code of conduct which applies to all Senedd members.
The committee’s report found: “Having considered the information available and all the representations, the committee agreed with the conclusion of the commissioner that the member breached the following provisions in the Code of Conduct:
Rule 1 (failure to uphold the Leadership Principle)Rule 3 (duty not to bring the Senedd into disrepute)Rule 4 (duty not to engage in … discrimination)Rule 6 (duty not to subject anyone to excessive or abusive personal attack)Rule 24 (duty to take reasonable measures to ensure that their staff, when acting on their behalf, also uphold and act in accordance with these rules and the overarching principles
It added: “The committee considers a breach of the code of conduct by any member of the Senedd a serious matter. The reputation of the Senedd as an institution, and the public’s trust and confidence in it, rely upon demonstrating integrity and leadership by their actions.
“The committee is clear that inappropriate and offensive comments have no place in our Senedd, or society more widely. These messages were contained within an office group WhatsApp chat, rather than a public forum; however the code is clear that it applies to members at all times. This provision is intended to ensure that as members we conduct ourselves according to the required standard in all aspects of our lives.
“The conduct found in this report fell far below the standards expected. It points to an office culture where there was little respect towards others or any consideration of what may be found offensive.”
Ms Jones apologised in the chamber. “I never meant to cause any offence and would never have that intention to do so,” she said. “As for the language that it regrettably used in the private WhatsApp messages, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise once again for that in this chamber.
She said she has been in contact with and “helped” the community she referenced in her comments.
Breaking down in tears, she said the two year investigation had had a “negative impact on my family” saying it had impacted her children particularly and had led to her attempting to take her own life.
“I have let this nightmare consume me and my family for far too long,” she said. “Regardless of how you vote, I will always be both apologetic for using that language, I’m thankful for drawing a line under it,” she said.
Nigel Farage was asked by the BBC about Ms Jones’ use of the racial slur on the day she defected to his party. He told BBC Wales’ political editor Gareth Lewis: “She used a word that 20 years ago was common parlance and was never used in a derogatory sense either. You know, we’re going out for a Chinese meal.
“There was a word people used to use.
“I bet you did too. In an age of rampant anti-Semitism throughout our country, it’s small beer by comparison. Would I welcome her to do it again? No. Would I act if she did it again? Yes.”
Ms Jones’ expenses were previously investigated by South Wales Police which found no evidence of fraud in the allegations she had changed expenses, something which saw her removed from the shadow cabinet when she was part of the Conservative group.
One message about her expenses saw her ask a staff member: “When doing petrol thing – always make more than I did – add in stuff please OK”.
The staff member asks for clarification saying: “What do you want me to add in?… Like visits to constituency office?”. The response said to be from Ms Jones replied: “Yes, stuff like that.” For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
In another message a member of staff asks if the MS wants her to claim for days when she was off sick. To this Ms Jones appears to say “If you could always do more than it says that’d be fab”.
Ms Jones said during the disciplinary process she did not instruct the complainant to make false claims and had no knowledge of any other person having done so.
Standards commissioner Douglas Bain added there were different accounts of how the inaccurate mileage claims were made and did not find it established that the member made fraudulent claims for mileage.
