Welsh ministers have been urged to keep a promise to disqualify politicians found guilty of deliberate deception after appearing to backtrack on the commitment.
Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price warned it would be a travesty for the Welsh Government to mislead the Senedd and the public on the very question of honesty in politics.
Ministers pledged to introduce a law next year but Julie James, who is counsel general, the chief legal officer, has now suggested it would not be feasible before the May 2026 election.
Her predecessor Mick Antoniw pledged legislation “before 2026 for the disqualification of members and candidates found guilty of deception through an independent judicial process”.
As a result of July’s agreement, the Senedd voted to remove part of a bill which otherwise could have seen an offence of deliberate deception created.
The promise was reiterated by Huw Irranca-Davies, the deputy first minister, in December.
‘Commitment’
But, in the Welsh Government’s response to committee recommendations, which will be debated this week, Ms James seemed to stop short of meeting the commitment.
As part of a wider inquiry on accountability, the Senedd’s standards committee took evidence on creating a criminal or civil offence of deliberate deception, publishing a report in February.
During the inquiry, some witnesses warned creating an offence would politicise the courts, lead to vexatious complaints and endanger free speech in the Senedd.
Others made a case for radical reform, with faith in democracy at an all-time low, calling for more independence to avoid the perception of politicians marking their own homework.
The standards committee report recommended expanding an existing offence for candidates to include deception while continuing to deal with sitting politicians largely in house.
‘Not feasible’
Ms James said the Welsh Government would develop a proposed offence alongside an assessment of the impact on the justice system and electoral law.
She wrote: “I believe a proposed offence should be the subject of further consultation, which means it is not feasible to include it in the final conduct order for the 2026 Senedd election.”
The Welsh Government will set out more details of its position during the debate on April 2.
Mr Price, who struck July’s 11th-hour deal with ministers, said: “The Welsh Government has previously pledged to ban deliberate deception by politicians before the next election.
“The suggestion they cannot use regulations to achieve this can mean only one thing: they will need to use primary legislation instead.
“It would be an absolute travesty for any government or party to mislead parliament and the public on the very question of honesty in politics itself.”
‘Betrayal’
Sam Fowles, a high-profile barrister who is one of the architects of the initial proposals, argued the regulations could be amended relatively simply.
He pointed out that the proposals have already been subject to legislative scrutiny in the Senedd as well as a public consultation as part of the standards committee inquiry.
Dr Fowles warned of the rise of populist parties like Reform UK, raising concerns about seemingly absurd deceptive statements nonetheless resonating with the electorate.
In a briefing, he told Senedd members: “Going back on or watering down the government’s promise would be devastating for trust in politics and politicians in the current Senedd.
“It would undoubtedly be seen as a significant betrayal by the public and would likely become a significant attack at the 2026 election.”
‘The world is watching’
More than two thirds of people surveyed for an Opinium poll last year were in favour of a new law to make it illegal for politicians to knowingly lie to the public.
Jennifer Nadel, co-director of the cross-party Compassion in Politics thinktank, which commissioned the poll, said events in the US show how fragile democracy has become.
Warning the threat could hardly be greater, she said: “We can see across the Atlantic what happens when rigorous safeguards are not in place.
“The Welsh Government needs to stick to its commitment both to begin to rebuild voters’ trust but also to ensure democracy is protected from the increasing number of bad actors whose lies skew and pollute the democratic space.”
The award-winning journalist added: “The world is watching Wales. It can either be the world leader or break its clear commitment. With public trust at an all-time low, the latter would be a disastrous route for the government to take.”