The High Court’s decision regarding the inquiry into the dismissal of Carl Sargeant

Part of 5. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 27 March 2019.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 3:26, 27 March 2019

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I should probably place on record that I was clearly a member of the Government when these matters were discussed by members of the Government. Can I say that I'm grateful to Andrew R.T. Davies for bringing this matter to the attention of the National Assembly this afternoon? This is clearly something that we do need to address and to address very, very urgently. I discussed the potential of an independent inquiry with the then First Minister the day after we lost Carl, and certainly we felt at the time that this was something that would be resolved very quickly. It's taken far, far too long to reach a resolution on this matter, and it is something where I now believe that we need to ensure that the family have the knowledge that they seek and that they are given the closure that they require. We all have a responsibility, in whatever part of this Chamber we sit and whatever role we've played both in Government and as Members of this place, to bring the truth of what happened into the open.

I do agree with Adam Price that it probably is now time that the leak inquiry was published, and published in full, to enable people to understand the background, and also I believe, potentially, given the history of this, that we may wish to learn a lesson from the House of Commons today and that this place may need to take control of this process if the Government is unable to do so.

Will the Government consider bringing a motion to this place with the terms of the inquiry, with the form of operation of the inquiry, so that all of us may be satisfied and satisfied in public that this inquiry is the open and transparent process that the family were promised, that this inquiry will operate in a way that searches for the truth and doesn't operate with either favour or fear for anyone and ensures that we are able, collectively, to ensure that the truth is brought out, that people understand what happened to our friend and understand why that happened.

I think, given the judgment today, it is time now for the Government either to take responsibility for resolving this and doing so very, very urgently or it is time for this place to do that for the Government.