Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:05 pm on 9 November 2021.
It says something—Geoffrey Cox is the former Attorney-General, isn't he? How low have they gone? As Westminster sinks deeper into the mire of its own corruption, what can we do here in this Senedd to uphold the highest levels of public integrity in our own democracy? This month, the Nolan committee, following on from the Boardman review, published new recommendations to strengthen public integrity, which includes some that we could enact independently. These include placing the independent adviser on the ministerial code, or its equivalent here, on a statutory basis and giving them the authority both to initiate and determine breaches of the code. This would strengthen public confidence in Wales's democratic institutions at a time of plummeting trust elsewhere. And, of course, when we devolve the criminal justice system, finally, we could go further in creating a new law of corruption in public office, as the Law Commission of England and Wales currently has proposed. If the Prime Minister refuses to explore these ideas, are you prepared to do so as Prif Weinidog instead?