Skip to content 
“I want the members who have spoken for this debate to know that we not only hear you, but we see you. We see you for what you are. We see you for weaponizing discontent, driving division and stirring up hatred.
The Wales Deputy Prime Minister spent 13 minutes criticizing Reform UK at the end of a debate on face coverings, presented by Reform UK’s Jason O’Connell.
In an extremely passionate debate, members of Reform UK faced criticism from opposition politicians for the tone and content of the debate.
The title of the debate was the topic: “Full-face coverings are against British values”. Mr O’Connell opened the debate on reform and other contributors included Reform UK’s Gwyr Abertawe representative Francesca O’Brien and Kiera Marshall, who represents Caerdydd Penarth.
It was, however, the final contribution of Sioned Williams, the Deputy Prime Minister, which provoked the biggest reaction from colleagues.
In her speech, she said “hate speech” was “disguised as free speech”. She said the policy “dog spit” was “hanging” over the Reform UK benches and said the whistle was “getting louder”.
Ms Williams said the UK reform was “divisive” and it was a “terrible, shameful, shameless end to a sad day”.
“A sad day indeed when those benches bring into this chamber who are here to represent all of Wales, all our communities, all our citizens, that which tries to divide those communities.
“I listened carefully to the contributions tonight.
“I was disturbed by such an unsettling sound because, Llywydd, you don’t have to strain at all, or strain at all, to hear the dog whistle that has too often pierced political debate in this House since the May election,” she said.
Ms Williams continued: “This dog whistle varies in volume. It’s always there, but it gets louder. It lingers over these benches, a conscious intangible thing that asks far too many if a line has been crossed.
“I’m not afraid to speak up and say that this line has been crossed too often since May. It’s hiding in plain sight. Hate speech masquerading as free speech about concerns.
“I want the members who spoke in support of this debate to know that not only do we hear you, but we see you. We see you for what you are. We see that you are arming discontent, driving division, and stirring up hatred.
“We see in this debate the intimidating behavior of thugs and those whose protest descends into disturbances and violence, often in demonstrations directed against migrants or Muslims, with the people who are targeted by that intimidating behavior.”
Mr O’Connell said Reform UK would ask each of Wales’ 22 councils to follow Nottingham and introduce face covering and balaclava restrictions. He said Plaid Cymru “cares more about foreign cultures than our own”.
He began his contribution talking about people wearing balaclavas, but also brought into his contribution religious face coverings.
He said a contribution by the Muslim Council of Wales ahead of the debate was an attempt to “silence” the debate.
“Plaid care more about promoting foreign cultures than our own and they clearly don’t care about keeping Welsh people and businesses safe,” Mr O’Connell said.
“Now, when supporting a Welsh reform, Plaid often accuses them of questioning their loyalty to Wales. But when foreign people who cannot speak the British language enter Wales, live on the welfare system, they are celebrated as trophies of the benefits of mass migration. Migration in all its forms, regardless of the cost to our communities.
“Now, we see this today. They defend balaclavas, all because they want someone in our society to be able to hide their faces. Now some will lazy say that we are Islamophobic, whatever that means. Now, some, no doubt, will roll out the old classics, intrigue racists. These tropes are tired, ineffective, and clearly I want to address them.
Mr O’Connell said his party supported religious freedom “in all its forms, but where that freedom oppresses women and harms assimilation in Welsh communities, a line must be drawn”. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
He continued: “For these women who have grown up under an extremist form of Islam, the burqa is a symbol of oppression. The symbol is what Plaid members are trying to do today. An extreme ideology. There is an anti-British, anti-women, and anti-assimilation, forced on young girls and carried on into adulthood. Now, in many countries, the burq is not allowed to become the norm of oppression, but we can already see this norm be banned in Wales.
“Reform doesn’t have a problem with hijab. We don’t have a problem or a problem with race, creed or religion, protesters, we have an issue with people living in our communities who hide their identity.
“We say the same to protesters who cover their faces, whatever their political persuasion. In modern Britain, we are polite people. We say hello to our neighbours, and we don’t hide our faces. That’s our culture. That’s our way.”
Ms Williams had said: “I do not accept the premise that face coverings are inherently against our values. Such a catch-all position ignores the many legitimate reasons why face coverings are worn.
“People’s rights to do so can of course be subject to legal and proportional limitations, if necessary, also to prevent crime and disorder. But the justification comes from the situation and the behavior, not from a judgment that the face in itself is unacceptable and dangerous.” Don’t let an algorithm decide what Welsh news you see – click here to add WalesOnline as your preferred Google source.
