Politician told off for calling 20mph a blanket limit

The default 20mph speed limit has been in place in Wales since September 2023

A Senedd Conservative has been officially reprimanded by the Welsh Parliament for calling Wales' 20mph speed limit a "blanket" policy on social media.

Natasha Asghar was told by a politicians' watchdog she had said one thing and did the opposite after she signed off on a report which asked colleagues to avoid the term, but continued to use it.

The "blanket" description is a long-held bugbear of the Welsh government, which has said it is wrong because the default limit is subject to exemptions.

Asghar rejected the findings of the Senedd's standards committee on Wednesday, but was reminded again by the presiding officer to stop using the phrase.

Asghar was censured by the Welsh Parliament on Wednesday afternoon - a form of official reprimand and in effect a telling-off with no further consequences.

Before the decision for breaching Senedd rules was passed the MS for South Wales East was defiant, saying she would "respectfully object to the ruling".

"To say I brought the Senedd into disrepute by using the word blanket, for me, is purely absurd.

"I make no apology whatsoever for standing up for my constituents and residents across Wales.

"With 97% of former 30 mph roads dropping to 20 mph as a result of this policy, it remains my opinion that this is a blanket approach."

She was cut off in her speech by Presiding Officer Elin Jones, however, asking her to stop using the word blanket.

"Once the standards commissioner and the standards committee had ruled that it was an imprecise and inaccurate way of describing the 20mph policy, I have changed my view, and it is not correct to use it in that context in this chamber anymore," she said.

With no objections, including none from her party group, the censure was passed unanimously.

Nastashar Asghar has been a member of the Senedd since 2021

The events in the Senedd followed a report last week that said Ms Asghar had been a standards committee member in January when it agreed to clear Senedd Tory leader Andrew RT Davies for calling the limit blanket, while she was subject of two similar complaints.

Asghar did not step away from the committee or tell the committee she had a conflict of interest in the case.

The committee's report on Davies, agreed by Asghar, had found the term to be "imprecise and inaccurate", and asked colleagues to “take care to not intentionally make statements which are imprecise and inaccurate”.

'Incumbent to declare'

The Senedd watchdog, Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain, had originally dismissed the original complaints against Ms Asghar, but after a renewed objection by Lee Waters accused her of a "degree of moral turpitude" and "flying in the face of the committee's report".

Because Mr Bain did not have the power to launch his own investigations the conflict of interest - which Senedd members are meant to avoid - was not investigated.

But in the Senedd on Wednesday committee member Peredur Owen Griffiths reminded politicians it was "incumbent on members to declare any relevant interest and where necessary, to recuse themselves from proceedings".

The standards committee of the Senedd, which makes recommendations for punishments based on investigations by Mr Bain, recommended Ms Asghar be censured.

'Committee changes happen regularly'

Asghar was removed from the cross-party committee by the Conservative group and replaced by a colleague in July - a source has told BBC Wales it came after concerns had been raised to the party about Asghar's conduct on the committee.

The Welsh Conservatives have refused to be drawn on why she was removed.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd said: “As leader, Andrew has not had any issues raised with him regarding Natasha’s membership of the standards committee, and no issue has been raised with the Welsh Conservative group office.

“Committee changes across the Senedd happen regularly and are not unusual, ensuring members can gain experience on the workings of different committees.”

Ms Asghar added she was "not aware" of any request to have her removed from the committee.