Labour demand formal probe over Welsh Tory video

Image caption, David TC Davies appeared to use a government office to film a video criticising the Welsh government
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A senior Labour politician has written to civil servants demanding a formal investigation into a Conservative cabinet minister accused of breaching rules of behaviour for ministers.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies posted a short video on X, formerly Twitter, last week, attacking Labour's plans to expand the size of the Welsh Parliament.

Opponents said Mr Davies was recording in his government office, in contravention of the ministerial code, which says they "should not generally be used for party or constituency activities".

A Wales Office spokesperson said: 鈥淲e have received correspondence on this matter and a reply will be provided in due course.鈥

Last week the Senedd passed reforms that will see the number of politicians rise from 60 to 96 at the next election in 2026.

In the clip, Mr Davies said: "Do they [Welsh Labour] want to spend 拢120m on Welsh taxpayers' money on creating dozens of extra Senedd members in Cardiff Bay?

"Or would they prefer to spend that money on employing more nurses, doctors, dentists and teachers?"

The Welsh government has defended the plans, saying they are needed to better scrutinise their work which has grown significantly since the National Assembly was established in 1999.

Call for apology

Jo Stevens, Labour's shadow Welsh secretary, has now written to the director of the Welsh Office - the civil servant responsible for his office - to ask them to establish whether a breach has occurred and to investigate how it happened.

In her letter, she said the video contained "explicitly party-political content".

She asked the official to establish whether a breach of the code had taken place and what action would be taken to ensure it never happens again.

Ms Stevens also asked for a formal apology from Mr Davies.