Vaughan Gething won the Welsh Labour leadership bid just over a month ago, and so in his first first first minister’s questions, of course his two hundred thousand pound donation from a local business was the elephant in the room. As the company who donating it have been found guilty of illegally dumping waste in the past.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I congratulate you, First Minister, on assuming the role of First Minister here in Wales.
00:06 Itís the first time you and I have been across the Chamber in our respective roles.
00:11 What measures have you put in place, now that you are First Minister, to make sure that
00:16 there is not the continuing perception that money can buy influence within your Government
00:23 and a seat at the Cabinet table?
00:25 Well, I think when you look at where we are and our adherence to the ministerial code
00:30 and the requirements to separate ministerial interests from constituency ones and personal
00:34 ones, this Government and every iteration of a Welsh Labour-led Government has a good
00:38 track record on doing the right thing.
00:41 You can expect that from all members of my Government.
00:44 I only wish the same could be said for other administrations within the United Kingdom.
00:50 The First Minister has said he has a good relationship with UK Labour and was recently
00:53 pictured in a shadow Cabinet meeting with Keir Starmer and his team.
00:56 Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, wants to know whether that was simply a chance to
01:00 make good and look chummy, or whether Gething can establish a strong relationship and get
01:05 a proper funding strategy from Labour if they win the next general election.
01:09 He was recently seen sitting around Keir Starmerís shadow Cabinet table, so will he confirm whether
01:15 he was just there as a photo-op, or did he manage whilst he was there to get a firm pledge
01:20 of fair funding for Wales if Labour win the next UK election?
01:26 Of course my bosses are the electors and members of the Welsh Labour family.
01:30 I recognise that Mr Ap Iorwerth continues to be obsessed about internal Labour Party
01:36 matters just as he was when the Member for Cardiff West was the First Minister.
01:41 I look forward to an ongoing and engaged conversation with the current shadow team within Westminster.
01:48 I look forward to putting my shoulder to the wheel to ensure that they are a future UK
01:54 Labour government, and that election cannot come soon enough.
01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]