Covid: Politician 'disappointed' alcohol probe still ongoing

It is disappointing the probe into politicians drinking alcohol during a Wales-wide ban is ongoing, the Tories' former Senedd leader has said.

Paul Davies resigned after he and three other Members of the Senedd (MS) drank alcohol in the Welsh Parliament's tea room, just days after a lockdown ban.

He said he hoped Cardiff Council and the Senedd standards commissioner's probes would "end as soon as possible".

The four MSs have maintained throughout that they did not break Covid-19 rules.

A Senedd Commission investigation found that five individuals - Mr Davies, Conservative MS Darren Millar, former Conservative MS Nick Ramsay, Labour MS Alun Davies, and the Conservative group's chief of staff at the time - drank alcohol in the licensed tearoom on 8 December.

Four days earlier, a ban on serving alcohol in pubs and licensed premises across Wales had been imposed, leading the investigation to conclude the incident could amount to "a possible breach" of Covid-19 regulations.

Senedd officials referred the matter to the parliament's own standards watchdog and Cardiff Council.

Catering company Charlton House holds the alcohol licence for the tea rooms at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, leading council officials to investigate the catering worker who served the politicians.

The council and the standards commissioner's investigations are yet to be published.

BBC Wales has been told the standards commissioner's report will need to be signed off by the Senedd's standards committee, which has yet to be established following May's Welsh Parliament election.

The committee's chairman is set to be nominated on Tuesday.

Interviewed about the incident for the first time since resigning as leader, Mr Davies said it had been "very difficult... personally".

Speaking on BBC Radio Cymru's Dewi Llwyd programme, Mr Davies added: "I resigned because I was under the spotlight, the story was a distraction from the important issues at the time, such as the Welsh government's performance on its vaccination programme as they tackled coronavirus.

"And I resigned for the sake of the Conservative group, for my party's sake and for the sake of my family and also because of the negative publicity.

"But I'm confident that I haven't broken the rules but you wouldn't expect, of course, for me to make any other comments on this matter now given that those investigations into the events are ongoing.

"The only other thing I would say, of course, is I'm disappointed that the investigations have gone on so long and, hopefully, now those investigations will end as soon as possible."