Welsh Government publishes evidence behind Hannah Blythyn sacking
It comes hours after the First Minister resigned
Vaughan Gething has published a written statement showing the evidence that formed his decision to sack the former social partnerships minister.
Hannah Blythyn has repeatedly said she isn't the source of a leak concerning pandemic-era group chats to the media.
The publication that first broke the news says Hannah Blythyn was not the source of its story.
Nation Cymru made the news public following the First Minister's comments in the Senedd last week.
Gething reiterated that Hannah Blythyn was the source of the leak, something she's always denied.
Today, after pressure from other political parties, Gething has published the 'evidence' that formed his decision to sack the ex-minister.
In a written statement the First Minister said:
"I am today publishing the evidence underpinning the decision to ask the former Minister for Social Partnership to leave the Welsh Government."
"In the interests of clarity and the accuracy of the debate regarding this matter in the Senedd, I believe it is now right to set out the evidence that led to the decision I took. Specifically, I consider that it is important for the integrity of the Welsh Government that there is now clarity on the evidence that supported the decision."
"Upholding collective responsibility is integral to the ability of cabinet to function effectively. Welsh Ministers must be able to consider and discuss challenging issues and sensitive information on matters that impact directly on communities, businesses, public services and citizens. It is important that they – and civil servants - are able to do so in a trusted, confidential environment."
"The first piece of evidence, as I described in detail to the Senedd on 10 July, is a photograph of a fragment of an iMessage chat from August 2020 involving eleven Welsh Labour Ministers. It was sent to the Welsh Government in May this year in exactly the form I am publishing today by a journalist seeking a comment on its contents."
"The second is a corresponding image from the same chat, which was subsequently located on the phone of another of the participants 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."
"By cross referencing the subsequently located chat membership with the photograph of the chat fragment that was provided to us by the journalist, it becomes clear that the only missing initials on this image are that of the former Minister for Social Partnership. It is also clear that the image was captured in 2020 and was retained before the leak become evident earlier this year."