Why did David Neal give Vaughan Gething £200,000, the biggest donation ever in Welsh political history?
What does Neal expect in return? What does he think his money will be buying?
Why did Gething accept money from a man convicted of serious criminal offences against the Welsh environment, fly-tipping dangerous waste on the protected Gwent Levels SSSI and then failing to clean the waste up when instructed to by the Court?
Why can’t Gething see that by refusing to return the money to Neal he has compromised himself, called into question his judgement and his rectitude, undermined his own authority and tarnished the office of First Minister? Is he aware of the saying ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’? Will David Neal now be pulling his strings? How can he ever be trusted by the people of Wales?
What did Gething spend the £200,000 on? Given the campaign was an internal Labour Party ballot involving at most 4,000 voters and in the last such election the winner Mark Drakeford spent just £25,000, why did he need such an excessive amount? It’s not as if he’s a pauper: as a Senedd member he is on £70k a year (as First Minister that will rise to £170k a year). Why didn’t he use his own considerable wealth to pay for his own campaign costs from his large house in Penarth? Does he believe Wales’ infant democracy ought to act as a vehicle for personal enrichment?
How will he vote when David Neal’s upcoming application for planning permission to cover the precious Wentloog levels in east Cardiff with solar panels is decided by the Senedd? Will he speak in the debate? Will he seek to influence the decision?
Does his acceptance of the £200k mean he has no problem with environmental vandalism? Is he unaware of Wales’ laws on sustainability, protecting and enhancing the natural world and the wellbeing of future generations? What example is being set and what message is being transmitted when the First Minister is so unbothered by fly-tipping? Can we all now fly-tip our rubbish where we like?
Why is he imitating the utterly discredited Westminster model of governance? There is no better example of the deep corruption and sickness in UK politics than the latest scandal to rock the Tories in which the odious Frank Hester, the biggest donor the Conservative Party has ever had and recipient of lucrative government contracts, can utter some of the most hateful racist, misogynist and violent words ever spoken and yet PM Rishi Sunak refuses to give back the filthy £15 million Hester has donated to Tory coffers. Are these the values Gething seeks to replicate in the Senedd? Is the pocketing of money the sole determinant of decision-making?
Why, Vaughan Gething, do you not understand the damage you are doing to the Senedd before you have even been sworn in as First Minister? We are Wales, not England/Britain/UK. We do things differently. We have principles, we have decency, we know right from wrong. When will you be man enough to apologise for your grave error, wipe the slate clean and return this poisonous gift to David Neal? And, should you continue to arrogantly and stubbornly and disingenuously defend the indefensible, how soon will it be before the membership of the Welsh Labour Party rises up against you, organises a vote of no confidence and forces you out of office?