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Reform could try to remove Senedd presiding officer over member's speaking ban

Reform could try to remove Senedd presiding officer over member's speaking ban

The party's chief whip says it has not ruled out triggering a no confidence vote in Huw Irranca-Davies.

A senior Reform politician says a no-confidence vote in the Senedd's presiding officer is "not off the table", after a party member was banned for claiming white people are being "replaced".

Llŷr Powell, Reform's chief whip in Cardiff Bay, said his colleague Joe Martin had the right to raise "legitimate concerns" that were being "infringed upon".

Martin was told he would not be called to speak in the Welsh Parliament until he apologised for the remarks made on Tuesday, which Presiding Officer Huw Irranca-Davies called "unnecessarily provocative and deliberately offensive".

Reform withdrew from most Senedd proceedings on Wednesday in response.

Reform boycotts Senedd after member banned for saying white people are being replaced

Powell, who as chief whip enforces party discipline in the Senedd's Reform group, was asked on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast if his party would put forward a no confidence vote in Irranca-Davies.

He said: "I'm not going to say that we're going to do that now, but what I would say it's not off the table right now because freedom of speech and the right of members to raise legitimate concerns should be the main priority.

"And for us, right now, we see that as being infringed upon."

Powell denied Martin had made any connection to a far-right conspiracy theory that the white population was being deliberately…

In brief

A senior Reform politician says a no-confidence vote in the Senedd's presiding officer is "not off the table", after a party member was banned for claiming white people are being "replaced". Reform withdrew from most Senedd proceedings on Wednesday in response. Reform boycotts Senedd after member banned for saying white people are being replaced Powell, who as chief whip enforces party discipline in the Senedd's Reform group, was asked on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast if his party would put forward a no confidence vote in Irranca-Davies.

This is the opening of the story, shared with credit to BBC News — Politics. The rest of the report — with every detail — continues on the publisher’s website.

Continue reading at BBC News — Politics ↗

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