Labour MP calls for Welsh government minister to 'consider her position' over comments on WRU allegations
Wales's deputy minister for arts, sport and tourism, Dawn Bowden, said in a recent interview that she "never got" details of the women who wished to share their stories. But Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi insists she did pass their details on.
Tuesday 12 December 2023 17:17, UK
A Labour MP has said a minister in the Welsh Labour government should "seriously consider her position" over what she knew about allegations at the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi said the deputy minister for arts, sport and tourism, Dawn Bowden, had been made aware of allegations of sexism and misogyny within the WRU in the early part of last year.
Ms Antoniazzi said she was "incredibly disappointed" by what she said were "inaccurate claims" made by the deputy minister in a recent interview.
Ms Bowden told the BBC's Politics Wales programme on Sunday that she needed "something more than just a kind of sense that there was a problem".
"What Tonia was telling me were things in very general terms," she said.
"I did offer this to Tonia, to let me have the details of who it was, what the details of what their complaints were, that they could provide that to me in confidence.
"I would not be divulging that to anybody but it would give me the assurance, if you like, that what was being said was real and was happening to these individuals.
"Now that never materialised, I never got that."
But Ms Antoniazzi said in a statement that she first raised her concerns with Ms Bowden in "early 2022".
"[Ms Bowden] indicated that she was happy to speak with any of the women involved," she said.
"I followed this up on multiple occasions, sharing the contact details of the women affected who were willing to meet with Dawn, as well as making her aware of the emotional impact this was having on these women."
A subsequent BBC investigation prompted an independent review within the WRU and its chief executive stepped aside.
The damning report found a "toxic" and "vindictive" culture at the union.
Welsh rugby's governing body now has a new chief executive - the first woman in the role - who will take over the post in January.
The Welsh government has confirmed that a ministerial code investigation has been launched at the request of Ms Bowden, after the allegations emerged.
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First Minister Mark Drakeford told the Senedd on Tuesday that the decision on how he responds to the investigation by the director of ethics and propriety will be his to make.
"I won't set a timetable for that investigation," he added.
"I hope that it will be carried out expeditiously of course. I hope it will be for the deputy minister who will want to see the matter resolved.
"But it isn't for me to place artificial constraints on a process which is carried out without my involvement in it."