THE WELSH GOVERNMENT has disclosed evidence suggesting a message from a ministerial thread, leaked to the media, originated from the phone of a government minister. This revelation comes after weeks of speculation following Vaughan Gething’s decision to sack his Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn, citing the necessity of maintaining cabinet colleagues’ confidence in one another.
Shortly before announcing his resignation as Welsh Labour leader and, consequently, as First Minister, Gething released a comprehensive statement online. This included two images he asserts prove the leak came from Blythyn’s phone. “Ministers are responsible for the security of their data, and regardless of how the photograph came into the journalist’s possession, the image should not have been allowed to have been taken, leading to a breakdown of trust for ministers’ expectation of privacy for their discussions,” he wrote on Tuesday. He added that it was especially challenging for other colleagues who could not be clear that they were not responsible for the leak.
Blythyn has consistently denied leaking the message, reiterating her denial in the Senedd with a pointed statement about Gething’s conduct. On Wednesday, a vote was scheduled in the Senedd, which, if won by opposition parties, would have forced the evidence to be released under the Wales Act, marking an unprecedented use of this law section. Given Gething’s resignation, the status of this vote remains uncertain.
The decision to release the evidence was taken with the consent of all involved parties, including Swansea East MS Mike Hedges, who was named in one of the messages. Legal advice was sought, and cabinet approval was obtained on Monday evening. However, it is understood that Blythyn’s specific permission was not sought.
The evidence pertains to how iMessages display group members. In a group chat, the names or numbers of participants are shown, except for the owner of the phone, whose name or number is excluded. In the screenshot, Blythyn’s name is missing from the list, indicating it was her phone.
Gething’s Tuesday statement explained: “The first piece of evidence, detailed to the Senedd on July 10, is a photograph of a fragment of an iMessage chat from August 2020 involving 11 Welsh Labour Ministers. It was sent to the Welsh Government in May this year exactly as I am publishing it today by a journalist seeking comment on its contents. Previously published in redacted form, it is now available to members without any redaction.
“The second is a corresponding image from the same chat, located on another participant’s phone after the photograph was provided to us. The full exchange from this chat has now been submitted to the Covid Inquiry. This image demonstrates that the former Minister for Social Partnership was a member of the chat on that day.
“When an iMessage chat is viewed on an individual’s device, the initials of all other participants are visible apart from the participant themselves. Cross-referencing the subsequently-located chat membership with the photograph provided by the journalist makes it clear that the only missing initials are those of the former minister for social partnership. It is also evident that the image was captured in 2020 and retained before the leak became evident earlier this year.
“These two pieces of evidence are why I have been clear with the Senedd that it can only be an image from the former minister’s phone. I decided to ask the former minister to leave the government based on this information and the lack of a credible explanation.”
On May 7, Nation Cymru published a story containing a screenshot from a private ministerial group chat on iMessage during the pandemic. In the thread, Gething told the group: “I’m deleting the messages in this group. They can be captured in an FOI [Freedom of Information request] and I think we are all in the right place on the choice being made.”
The initial messages referenced a Labour group of Senedd members’ meeting, with a quip suggesting using an algorithm designed to help award GCSE grades to select a new member for Swansea East – a jab at Mike Hedges.
Gething has maintained that he intended to delete the message to protect a colleague and avoid embarrassment for colleagues. He denied ever deleting the message.
Initially, when the Welsh Government shared the image sent by a journalist at Nation Cymru, several details were redacted, including names. However, Hedges later revealed in the Senedd it was him that Jeremy Miles had aimed at. During a debate ahead of a no-confidence vote that Gething lost, Hedges stated: “Vaughan was protecting me. Jeremy Miles wanted to use an algorithm and remove me as a Member of the Senedd for Swansea East – that is what was removed. It has nothing to do with the Covid inquiry but was to protect individuals, including me. I don’t care. That’s what happened, and I’m prepared to fight my case. It was an attempt to defend me, which I very much respect and like.”
However, this brought into question Gething’s statement to the Covid Inquiry that he could not disclose messages because they had been lost during a phone upgrade. The Covid Inquiry is investigating whether he should be recalled for further evidence.
Opposition politicians in the Senedd have criticised Gething for refusing to release evidence backing his decision to sack Blythyn. Responding to a topical question tabled by the Conservatives, Gething stated he had “no doubt” the screenshot was taken on Blythyn’s phone.
He said: “In early May, we received a photograph of a fragment of an iMessage chat from a journalist and were asked to comment on its contents. It was from one group chat set up for one day in August 2020 with 11 Welsh Labour Ministers and deputy ministers. It is vital for the functioning of government that ministers trust each other at all times and that private discussions remain private. For these messages to be provided to a journalist is a breach of that trust. Cross-checking the photograph with the full set of messages made it clear that the photograph could only have been of one member’s phone.”
In his latest statement, as he began the process of resigning as Labour leader, Gething declared: “I am today publishing the evidence underpinning the decision to ask the former Minister for Social Partnership to leave the Welsh Government.”
