Welsh Labour MP says Vaughan Gething 'shouldn’t have accepted' £200,000 donation
A Welsh Labour MP says Vaughan Gething “shouldn’t have accepted” a £200,000 donation given to him by Dauson Environmental Group during his campaign to become Welsh Labour Leader.
Speaking to S4C’s Y Byd yn ei Le which is produced by ITV Cymru Wales, Beth Winter, the MP for Cynon Valley also called for an independent inquiry.
“I’m not going to come on a television programme to defend Vaughan Gething. He shouldn’t have accepted the money. He should’ve returned the money straight away. And he accepted the money from someone who’s guilty of environmental crimes, and there’s all sorts of serious questions that need to be answered - and we need an independent inquiry.”
When asked what that review should look at, Beth Winter said:
“The questions the people of Wales are asking. Why accept the money? Should parties accept money from businesses like this? There are all sorts of questions, and questions came up in the Senedd today - and the only way we’re going to be able to move on, in my opinion, is by having an independent investigation.
“It worries me that someone’s accepted so much money for an internal election, more than £200,000… And if we want to regain the Welsh people’s confidence in politics, they’re not going to accept an internal investigation. We must have an independent investigation.”
When asked if she would be happy for the unspent donation money from Vaughan Gething’s campaign to go into the Welsh Labour Party’s coffers, she said:
“The money should’ve been returned when we found out that he accepted the money. He shouldn’t have accepted so much money. We don’t want to follow what’s happening in America, where the candidate who raises the most money wins because of how much money they have. What’s happening worries me."
Beth Winter said she supports Plaid Cymru’s calls for an annual cap on the donations a Senedd Member can accept.
Plaid Cymru and The Welsh Conservatives have both called for an independent inquiry into the situation.
When asked if the Labour party were to hold an independent inquiry addressing these concerns, Conservative Senedd Member Samuel Kurtz, who was also taking part in the programme, said:
“I don’t think that would be the end of the matter.”
“The fact is, in any internal election in Wales, no one’s ever received a sum of money like £200,000.
We need to look at what sort of impact this had on the [Labour leadership] election and on the new First Minister, he’s not only the Labour leader but the First Minister of Wales too
You can watch Y Byd yn ei Le on S4C, S4C Clic and BBC iplayer
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