We're inclusive says senior Tory after race rows

Lord Davies is reflecting unease in the party over recent stories about Tory Senedd members

A senior Conservative has urged its Welsh Parliament group to make clear it is inclusive, after its leader was accused of "Islamophobic race-baiting" and another member used racist language about Chinese people.

Shadow Welsh secretary Lord Byron Davies of Gower said the Tory party "embraces all cultures, ethnic groups and religions".

“There is no other party view," he added.

He spoke after Tory group leader Andrew RT Davies rejected criticism of his comments about halal meat in schools, and Laura Anne Jones apologised for using the racist slur on WhatsApp.

Andrew RT Davies wrote that "children should not be forced to eat halal school lunches", in an article for GB News, after a constituent alleged she was told non-halal meat was not available at her daughter's school in Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan.

The school said on social media "the statement that all meat options are halal-only is incorrect".

On Monday, he called allegations that this was race-baiting, made by the Muslim Council of Wales, "completely untrue", and said his concerns were focused on choice.

He was speaking on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

South Wales East Tory Senedd member Laura Anne Jones apologised last week for using a racist slur about Chinese people in an exchange about Chinese-owned TikTok.

Ms Jones said the word was "unacceptable and I deeply regret using it".

On Tuesday, Lord Davies said: "The Conservative Party as a whole embraces all cultures, ethnic groups and religions.

"We are proud to have amongst our membership and representatives at all levels people from these groups.

“There is no other party view. We are a broad church."

“The Muslim community have my absolute assurance that the Welsh Conservative Party are an inclusive party and the Senedd Conservative group should also make this absolutely clear.”

'Completely futile'

On Sunday, Conservative peer Nick Bourne, a former Tory leader in Cardiff Bay, warned Andrew RT Davies against going down a "blind alley" of trying to debate the abolition of the Welsh Parliament.

It followed a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Mr Davies saying he raised the issue at the Vale of Glamorgan agricultural show as he was "keen to find out people's views".

On Tuesday, Lord Davies of Gower made the same point.

“On the issue of abolishing the Senedd, the Conservative Party has no plans to support a move towards this and I see any action to test public opinion on this as completely futile,” he said.

In Monday's radio interview Andrew RT Davies agreed that abolishing the Welsh Parliament "certainly isn't our position, and it's not my position either".

"But if you want to engage with a group of society that do hold a view contrary to yours you pose a question and then you engage with them on a one-to-one basis," he added.