Pressure is building on the newly appointed Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething, as week in week out he is facing questions by journalists and politicians over accepting a donation by a twice convicted criminal.
This week will be no different, as both Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives plan to pile on the pressure and have put forward motions to be debated in the Senedd.
Gething has maintained that the donation was “all within the rules”, with Sir Keir Starmer publicly backing Vaughan Gething last month.
When questioned on the issue the Labour Leader said: “the First Minister has explained his actions, he has not broken any rules and that's the end of the matter.”
New First Minister of Wales Vaughan Gething
PA
Angela Rayner dominated UK airwaves, papers and social media over whether she should have paid capital gains tax on a house sale in 2015.
But, the Welsh Labour Leader accepting a £200,000 donation from a twice convicted criminal is a story that has barely gained traction beyond Offa’s Dyke.
So what happened?
Investigations by Nation Cymru revealed that Atlantic Recycling – which is connected to Dauson Environmental Group and controlled by David Neal donated £200,000 to Gething’s leadership campaign.
David Neal was given a suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste and prosecuted again in 2017 for not removing it.
Vaughan Gething who is the Senedd Member for Cardiff South and Penarth wrote to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in 2016 to ease restrictions on Atlantic Recycling.
It then emerged during the leadership campaign, via Wales Online, that Dauson Environmental Group also submitted an application to build a large-scale solar farm on the outskirts of the welsh capital.
Gething, who is now First Minister, will have the final say over this application.
Additionally in the last month, further investigations by Nation Cymru showed how recent Companies House records show that ‘Dauson Environmental Group’ received a £400,000 loan from the Development Bank of Wales (DBW).
The loan was acquired whilst Gething served as Welsh Economy Minister and granted based on building a solar farm.
Speaking at FMQs last week Gething said the Development Bank of Wales takes decisions “wholly independent of Welsh Government”.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething
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Following Gething’s leadership win, Gething announced a review into the party’s election. Starmer said it would make sense for Welsh Labour to review its campaign funding rules.
It was revealed that Former First Minister and Welsh Labour Leader Carwyn Jones will complete the review. The Welsh Conservatives slammed the appointment, accusing Welsh Labour of marking their own homework.
So far the scandal has left Vaughan Gething unscathed in the opinion polls - but the row continues to deepen.
The Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has written to the UK Labour Leader asking if he was across the details regarding the £400,000 Welsh Government loan, when he publicly backed Gething in March.
Addressing Sir Keir Starmer, Davies wrote: “In an article published by the BBC on 25 March you offered support to the first minister, saying: he has not broken any rules and that is the end of the matter”.
"But it has not come to light that the company, which made the donation of £200,000, had at the same time received £400,000 from a Welsh Government-owned bank for which Mr Gething was the Minister responsible.”
In the letter, Davies calls on Starmer to clarify if he was aware of all of the information when he made the statement in March, and if not, does he agree with Mr Davies that he should have been told.
The Welsh Secretary adds that “Jeremy Miles has said he 'would not have accepted' these donations. Do you think Vaughan Gething was wrong to have accepted this donation?"
Welsh Secretary David TC Davies
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The letter to Starmer ends by asking "Is Welsh Labour still your blueprint for government?"
Despite some in the Labour ranks backing Vaughan Gething, there are some within the party putting their head above the parapet and questioning the donation.
Speaking to S4C, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley Beth Winter said Gething "shouldn’t have accepted the money" and called for an independent investigation.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Miles, Gething’s leadership opponent and currently the Minister for the Economy and Welsh Language admitted last week that he would not have accepted the donation.
Next week both Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives plan to pile on the pressure and have put forward motions to be debated in the Senedd.
The Welsh Conservatives are using their debate time to call on the First Minister to appoint an independent advisor to the ministerial code to investigate any perceived conflict of interests that may exist in relation to the donation.
Meanwhile Plaid Cymru looks to introduce annual caps regarding donations for Senedd members.
The motions will unlikely pass. But, it’ll once again put the First Minister, his cabinet and back benchers in an uncomfortable position.
Marking yet another week of criticism and challenges for the new First Minister.
