Joel James MS has today responded to the Welsh Government's 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', which Jane Hutt MS, the
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice brought to the Senedd today in her statement.
Joel started his contribution by stating that he absolutely believes it's extremely important that we tackle racism in our society, and he wholeheartedly supports the Welsh Government's intentions of creating a plan that systematically addresses this issue.
However, the Member for South Wales Central also highlighted how enormously frustrated he is by the fact that any progress that seems to be made with regard to this is undermined by the actions of a few people, referring to the appalling actions by a Labour MP towards Leader of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch MP.
Speaking to the Cabinet Secretary, Joel said: "You talk in your plan about learning and leadership, but there appears to be a lack of this in the Labour Party as a whole".
The Member called for the Welsh Government, as part of their anti-racist plan, to show leadership on this and publicly call out any acts of racism, and, in this case, using any influence they have to put pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to put a stop to the racial hate that exists amongst some Labour Party politicians.
Speaking about his contribution, Joel said:
I recently spoke in the Welsh Parliament about the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', which has generated a lot of headlines lately.
Quite frankly, I was appalled at the Welsh Government's hypocrisy and failure to call out the disgusting comments that have been made by some members of The Labour Party towards Kemi Badenoch - with one of the worst describing the new leader of the Conservatives as the “black face of white supremacy”.
The Welsh Government has also failed to take into account the growing rise of hatred towards English people that exists in Wales and the inequalities still experienced by white working class communities - only then can we truly call ourselves a fully inclusive country.
To watch Joel's full contribution, please click here.
