Vaughan Gething: Sacked minister not source of texts story, website says

On the Nation.Cymru website, Mark Mansfield said: “Given the strong public interest and importance of this story and out of concern for Hannah Blythyn’s wellbeing, we have decided that the right thing to do is to state publicly that she was not the source of our story and that at no stage before or since publication of it have we had any contact with her about it.”

Defending the first minister, a source close to Mr Gething said the first minister had “said the image came from her phone, which is different to her being Nation.Cymru’s source”.

The Welsh Conservatives have tabled a motion for debate in the Senedd on Wednesday, calling for the Welsh government to publish all evidence he relied upon in sacking Ms Blythyn, with redactions to ensure anonymity of witnesses.

The party said if it passed it “may” force Mr Gething to release any evidence.

Plaid Cymru also called for the evidence to be published.

“At the heart of this story is a rudderless government, paralysed by controversy and unable to deliver for the people of Wales,” a Plaid spokesperson said.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “The unredacted version of the screenshot sent to the Welsh government by a journalist identified the owner of the phone the screenshot originated from.

“The first minister has made it repeatedly clear that he was not prepared to release this unredacted version unless all individuals identifiable through the exchanges agree to its release.”

A government source emphasised that the redacted version was already in the public domain.