Gething refuses independent donations inquiry

Vaughan Gething said there is no conflict of interest

The first minister has refused to order an independent inquiry into his decision to take £200,000 from a company owned by a man previously convicted of illegally dumping waste.

Vaughan Gething said there was “no conflict of interest” in accepting the money from Dauson Environmental Group, which owes the Welsh government-owned Development Bank of Wales (DBW) £400,000.

Mr Gething was forced to defend the donations for a second week running in the Welsh Parliament, as he faced accusations his group was split over the matter.

Plaid Cymru warned the saga threatened Westminster levels of "sleaze".

Mr Gething denied that he had different principles to his former leadership rival Jeremy Miles, who has said he would have refused the cash.

Meanwhile former first minister Carwyn Jones is to lead a review of leadership campaign donations for Welsh Labour.

The exact remit for the review is yet to be confirmed - the review will also look at nominations, communications with party members and the length of contests.

Mr Gething promised the Senedd that the Jones review will be published.

The Member of the Senedd for Cardiff South and Penarth narrowly beat Mr Miles to become first minister last month.

Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives have both called for independent reviews – the Conservatives have said it is likely Mr Gething has breached the ministerial code.

In a response to a letter from Andrew RT Davies on Thursday, Mr Gething said DBW's decisions "are wholly independent of the Welsh government".

“In addition, the ministerial code is clear that ministers should not act in any ministerial capacity which might be perceived as favouring one or more of their constituents.

“This stipulation is strictly followed by Welsh ministers. This protects against conflicts of interests regarding businesses located within a constituency or region ministers represent in their capacity as Members of the Senedd.

“There was no conflict of interest which would have prevented me from accepting a contribution to my leadership campaign.”

"I will not commission any further advice or an independent inquiry."

The Welsh Labour leader has maintained throughout that the donations were declared and registered in the correct way and that he would not be returning the money.

The letter came as it emerged Welsh Labour had agreed a separate review of leadership campaigns - to be led by Carwyn Jones.

After voting in the leadership campaign closed, Mr Jones described the decision to accept the donation as "unfortunate" and said that there were "lessons to be learned" around due diligence.

Speaking to ITV Wales’ Sharp End, Mr Gething said: “As the leader of Welsh Labour, I’ve attended a very harmonious and positive meeting of the Welsh executive just this weekend gone, at which we’ve honoured my commitment to have a proper review of the elections process.

“Carwyn Jones, at my request, has agreed to chair that review, and it will report back to the chief executive of Welsh Labour in September.”

Vaughan Gething, pictured left at the Welsh Labour leadership result in March, said he had asked Carwyn Jones, pictured right, to head a separate internal review

What happened in the Senedd?

In First Minister's Questions on Tuesday Vaughan Gething was asked by Andrew RT Davies if there was a difference in principle between him and Jeremy Miles, who said he would not have taken the money.

“I don't think there's a difference in principle at all,” he told the Welsh Conservative Senedd leader.

Mr Davies said a “reasonable person… would say there is a potential conflict interest there”.

But Mr Gething said a “reasonable person will be interested in the facts” – saying the Development Bank of Wales takes decisions “wholly independent of Welsh government”.

Mr Davies claimed the matter was having a “real corrosive effect on the government", but Mr Gething said there was “no reason to undertaken an individual independent investigation, simply on the basis of an opposition press release”.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth asked Mr Gething if he had queried where the money had come from.

Mr Gething said “all of the due diligence [was] undertaken about whether this was a permissible donor that money could be accepted from".

But Mr ap Iorwerth added: "The fact that you registered a donation from a convicted polluter doesn't make it good judgment to have accepted that donation.

"We've long associated Westminster with sleaze. That is not what we want here in Wales."

He said Mr Gething had talked about wanting to lead a country “full of hope, ambition and unity”.

“He can’t even unite his own party on whether he was right or not.”

Mr Gething said the Welsh Labour executive committee – the party officials which agreed the Carwyn Jones review – “has been very united”.

Asked by the Plaid leader if he would commit to making the findings public, Mr Gething said he had “no doubt at all” the Jones review “will be in the public domain”.

Analysis by Daniel Davies, BBC Wales political correspondent

There was a muted response on the Labour benches when their leader came under attack in the chamber.

Senedd proceedings are usually a lot more courteous than the yah-boo politics of the House of Commons.

Even so, it was notable that opposition leaders were not shouted down by Labour MSs when they questioned Vaughan Gething’s integrity and used the word “sleaze”.

'Command confidence'

The rules of behaviour for ministers says ministers should ensure no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests.

One part of Dauson Environmental Group, which gave Mr Gething the money, owes the Welsh government-owned Development Bank for Wales £400,000.

The company is owned by David John Neal, who was given a suspended sentence of three months for illegally dumping waste, and a suspended sentence of 18 weeks in 2017 for not cleaning it up.

In a statement Andrew RT Davies said: “A review in which Welsh Labour mark their own homework will not command the confidence of the wider public."

He added: “The First Minister’s campaign donations are now a major distraction from the work of the Welsh Government.

“There are fair and reasonable concerns about these donations and, without an independent investigation, those concerns will not go away."

Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Sleaze has sadly been normalised in Westminster politics over the last few decades which has denigrated our democracy.

"Sadly, it is now threatens to rear its head in Welsh politics through this donations saga which continues to dominate the Labour First Minister’s first few weeks in office."