Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:20 pm on 2 October 2019.
Well, of course. There was an opportunity for the Assembly Member to talk to the committee and to explain her views, and we took those views into account before we made a decision. But it's the standards committee that decides whether to agree with his findings and, if so, set the level of sanctions that it feels are appropriate. It is also important to note that the Member agreed with the factual content of Sir Roderick's report. By refusing to accept these sanctions, a Member is ignoring the decision of a cross-party committee—in this case, a committee that included a Plaid Cymru Member who agreed to the sanctions being imposed. Whilst I am willing to accept that there was a level of provocation from the person who was subject of the comments, and there is no doubt that there was extreme provocation from that person, provocation cannot be a defence for breaking the Assembly's code of conduct, particularly on social media. The committee was satisfied that the language used was inappropriate conduct for an Assembly Member, and it took into account the provocation aspect of the case in setting the level of sanction imposed. Refusal to accept such sanctions leads to anarchy in the Assembly procedural rules. I urge the Assembly to endorse the report.