Call for Blythyn to appear ‘under oath’ at UK Covid Inquiry over message retention and leak

The Leader of the Welsh Conservatives has reported Delyn MS Hannah Blythyn to the UK Covid Inquiry over leaked messages and has called for her to appear under oath.

It comes after further message content was released on Tuesday by the Welsh Government in the moments before First Minister Vaughan Gething announced he was resigning.

The messages revealed ‘evidence’ that the leaked content originated from Blythyn’s phone, with the First Minister at ‘pains to reiterate that ministers were responsible for the security of their own devices and there was a ‘lack of a credible explanation’.

Delyn MS Hannah Blythyn was sacked from her role in May after messages from what was believed to be her phone were leaked to the media.

Hannah Blythyn MS has been adamant that the leak did not involve her, previously saying: “I did not, nor have I ever leaked anything. Integrity is all in politics and I retain mine”.

There has been no suggestion or comment from Welsh Government or other MSs of hacking concerns or illegality, nor any detail from any party on who had access to the screen of the phone to take copies of messages and then store them up for several years.

Last night more messages were published by Nation.Cymru, some with replies from Blythyn included, raising more questions about the whole episode. Perhaps significantly Nation.Cymru have not said this is the full complete release of messages they may or may not hold copies of.

Yesterday Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew Davies MS wrote to Rt Hon Baroness Hallett, who is heading up the UK Covid Inquiry, to ask that Blythyn be called before the Inquiry,

Davies cites the First Minister’s timelines and evidence, stating: “This week, the First Minister of Wales published a ministerial statement.

“This statement claimed that electronic messages leaked to the media were proven to have come from the phone of the former Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn.

“The communications in question were sent via the iMessage service, in which the initials of all participants in a chat, save for the user themselves, are visible at the top of a user’s screen.

“As a result, the First Minister claimed that this proved the messages came from Ms Blythyn’s phone. I have attached copies of the statement and published evidence for your reference.”

He added: “The leaked communications included an instruction regarding the deliberate deletion of messages that related to the Welsh Government’s actions regarding the Covid 19 Pandemic.

“As such, they should have been disclosed to your Inquiry. Instead of doing so, it would appear Ms Blythyn chose to retain the messages and leaked them to the media for political purposes at a time she considered detrimental to a political rival.”

“This would be a clear breach of the Protocol on Documents and a criminal offence under section 35 of the Inquiries Act 2005.”

Mr Davies requests, “Given the seriousness of these allegations, and the prospect that other documents may not have been disclosed, I request that Ms Blythyn is called before your Inquiry to address these concerns under oath.”

Separately, Wrexham.com noted another element of the leaked messages:

One nugget from the flurry earlier, is this Julie James MS (Cabinet Secretary for Housing, *Local Government* and Planning) backing deletion of messages to avoid FOI ? pic.twitter.com/P4fJfqtpOT

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) July 16, 2024