Unite accused of engineering nomination when executive looked set to back rival – now Gething is history after a series of scandals
Vaughan Gething has resigned as Welsh First Minister after a series of scandals and just hours after the resignation of four members of his Cabinet, who quit calling for him to step down.
Gething, who was only sworn in as FM less than four months ago, had been embroiled in a series of scandals in which he accepted a donation of £200,000 from a criminal businessman and was found to have asked Natural Resources Wales to ease restrictions on the businessman’s company. The Development Bank of Wales also made huge loans to the a firm owned by the same donor.
Gething has claimed that allegations of wrongdoing were ‘politically motivated’.
As Nation Cymru revealed during the First Minister election contest, Gething received Unite’s nomination, despite his right-wing politics and his status as Keir Starmer’s pick, after the union bent a new nominations rule to block the union executive’s likely nomination of his rival, Jeremy Miles – who was also ‘well ahead among [Labour] party members’ – and backed Gething, even though he had only joined Unite a few months earlier, allegedly with the involvement of Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. The site wrote in February:
According to Welsh Labour leadership election rules, such union members have as much of a right to vote as members of the party itself.
We were the first media outlet to reveal that Mr Miles had been disqualified from receiving Unite the Union’s endorsement because of the dubious use of a recently introduced union rule.
Both candidates had already spoken to members of Unite’s Welsh political committee when the union’s “regional secretary” Peter Hughes intervened and said that Mr Miles was ineligible for the nomination because he had never been a union lay official. Mr Gething was then endorsed by default.
It later emerged that Mr Gething had only joined Unite in recent months and that the recently introduced rule did not appear to apply to the leadership election, but to would-be first-time candidates for the Senedd and other parliaments.
Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham has not responded to Mr Miles’ attempt to contact her to discuss the matter. Mr Miles’ team believes Mr Hughes only intervened when it appeared the committee was likely to back him.
Elected members of the union’s executive walked out in protest in May, threatening legal action and accusing Graham of ‘stifling democracy’ and destroying the union. Graham’s tenure has also been marked by a string of other serious allegations, which neither she nor the union has ever denied – of abuse, cover-up and failure to protect women:
- that she attempted to have evidence destroyed in bullying and misogyny complaints about her husband, whom she now employs in her office despite a final warning from the union for his behaviour
- after her supporters failed in their bid to take control of the Unite executive despite ‘dark money’ spending on advertising, ineligible and racist members being allowed to stand and the alleged use of paid organisers in and following the exec election campaign, her faction has resorted to Starmerite tactics to try to discredit the executive members
- that her chief of staff threatened a (now-retired) senior officer with the loss of a pension bonus if he did not soften his support for Palestinians against Israel’s genocide
In addition, she has been exposed behind the union’s decision to ban showings in Unite’s buildings of a film exposing racism, smears, rigging and abuse by the Labour right and has appeared to grow increasingly cosy with red-Tory Labour ‘leader’ Keir Starmer, despite Starmer’s lies, his contempt for democracy, his u-turns on promises to Unite members and his regime’s repeated blocking of Unite-backed parliamentary candidates.
Now the First Minister that her representatives were accused of abusing Unite’s rules to nominate has resigned in chaos.
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Ciao.
In the context of a Welsh Labour Party election, £200,000 is a truly enormous sum of money.
In the context of £200k, it’s about two months’ worth of freebies to keef.
Another bandit in place just been asked by that well known site do we still want that magic roundabout answered no get rid of these
https://media.tenor.com/mKMoJsmqMZwAAAAM/wait-what.gif.
Any time there is a solid, honest, reputable person in a left-wing leadership role, the security functions of the PtB have to destroy them.
Gething’s £200,000 donation from a criminal businessman, his Unite/Graham connection and his ‘credentials’ as the Starmer-pick causes me to realise that’s NOT what’s happening to Gething here….. But I fondly remember his predecessor, Mark Drakeford, and sadly remember how the death of his life-long partner, Clare, caused him to announce his resignation. He just didn’t have the strength to deal with how dirty Starmer and his ilk make politics.
just wondering -anybody know whether Morgan McSweeney and his Labour Together organisation played any part in Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign like they did Starmer’s?
Anybody know??
CONSTITUTIONALLY – Plaid Cymru and even the Conservative party are – rightly imho -calling for snap election.
Any Welsh person who isn’t still wearing a plastic paper mask against the specially christened 2020 flu, isn’t on the nineteenth or twentieth ‘booster’ of the mega-dangerous covid mRNA ‘vaccine’ (real vaccines NEVER need boosters) or who actually believes their Senedd and Government to be a legitimate agencies of Welsh democracy should be demanding an election now.
Two-thirds of the Senedd would need to vote for its dissolution for a snap election to be called. Labour holds 30 of the 60 seats.
Only been in a week…😙🎶
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy795we0vngo
Keef overkill in action…
(Also from BBC webshite)
Five environmental activists who organised protests that brought part of the M25 to a standstill over four days have been jailed.
Forty-five Just Stop Oil protesters climbed gantries on the motorway in November 2022, forcing police to stop the traffic, in an attempt to cause gridlock across southern England.
Judge Christopher Hehir said Roger Hallam, 58, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic”.
At Southwark Crown Court, Hallam was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment while the other defendants each received four-year jail terms.
But at the end of the article there’s also this…
Update: This article originally reported that Roger Hallam had encouraged 11 supporters to go to the court with signs and has been amended to remove the suggestion that these 11 individuals were specifically encouraged to do so. We have also added a statement from the 11 individuals denying that this was the case
A few points, here.
Firstly, once again, the beeb have embellished a story with a load of bollocks. It’s borderline miraculous that they’ve printed a correction.
Second, five, and four-year stretches for peaceful protest, ffs? We’re being told the jails are full-to-bursting, and they’re sending protestors to jail because someone was late for work? Do fuck right off.
Where’s the suspended sentence that the child sex case – and former labour council candidate – thomas dewey received? (And l he’s far from the only nonce to walk, nor will he be the last)
…Plus 300hours community service to ‘make the example’? They could then wear the movement’s signature orange (hi-viz outfits), and indulge in their other ‘hobby’ of painting public property. Or cleaning/tidying up their community(ies)
But NO! Keef wants them doing budgie. Children being sexually abused is far less serious than being stuck in a traffic jam, eh, keef?
And now there’s
actual violent disorder been occuring in W.yorkshire last night. I’ll bet most of them involved won’t even be collared for it because of the lack of plod, and the bone-idleness of the serving ones.
Way to go, in reducing that prison population by sending (relatively) harmless protestors to the nick, gobshite(s).
Only been in a week…😙🎶 indeed, Toffee, but speaking as a citizen who’s based in a neighbouring part of Leeds, that BBC News report you linked is noticeable or its gigantic and obvious Elephant where a a more informative news item would have offered an explanation or possibility for the civil unrest.
Couple things that occur to me
1 – I believe the Labour MP for that part of East Leeds is Fabian Hamilton. The Consituency is ‘Leeds NE’ not Leeds East or the quickly-mentioned Richard Burgon – who is openly pro-Palestine and campaigning against Israel’s apartheid and genocide in Gaza and the occupied West Bank
2- The cultural and faith diversity of Harehills is considerable Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Zimbabwean Fellowship and United Reformed Church Christians make up the majorities in the area and – although the BBCstory didn’t mention Muslims, I’d say, it allows eager-eared bigots to hear a dog whistle. A short sentence saying why the ‘incident’ occurred, or that it wasn’t know would have removed the hint of a dog-whistle.
Also, why did they put a judgement-statement from the Home Secretary so early (seeding a future skwawky-disclosed Official Narrative)?
And yes, FWIW, the Moslem voters who live in Fabian Hamilton’s ward (LeedsNE) didn’t vote for him as they suddenly see him as part of Starmer’s pro-zionist Labour Party on Independents Day, 4th July. (some of them who lived in Leeds E did, despite this, vote for Richard Burgon)
I see farage was swift to chime in with his usual bollocks.
Werent it him spouted the shote that it was the the subontinental politics’ responsible for (postal) voter fraud?
Anyway, at least our local move candidate was real (I think)
Here’s the bumph on him..
David Burgess-Joyce was the Chief Officer of Merseyside Police Special Constabulary. He served from 1982 and was Head of Organisation Development for the Serious Organised Crime Agency from 2004 until he was either dismissed for gross misconduct in 2013 or retired in early 2014. Details of the alleged misconduct were not revealed, but were reported to have potentially involved improper expenses claims
Came second, apparently.. He’d have been a pig on shot at Westminster then. Fuck knows what’s the matter with people around here.Tbh, I’d rather have voted for dame of blame angela illeagle. The only thing I can credit illeagle for is tjat it’s expenses claims weren’t through the roof.
You would 5hink there was a formula that reflected the needs of each nation and region when it came to funding