Andrew RT Davies reported to standards commissioner over school girl social media post

Emily Price 

The Welsh Refugee Council will pursue a complaint with the Senedd's Standards Commissioner over a "factually incorrect and misleading" video of school girls shared online by Conservative MS Andrew RT Davies. 

The former leader of the Tory Senedd group shared the video to social media on Saturday (January 11) featuring young school girls from Brynteg School in Bridgend.

He claimed the girls were being used as "propaganda" by the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary plan - an initiative to help refugees and asylum seekers integrate into Welsh communities.

Sharing the video to X, he wrote: "Schoolchildren are being used in propaganda for Labour Senedd ministers’ 'Nation of Sanctuary' plan.

"Under this ideologically motivated project, Labour wanted to pay ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS £1,600 a month. Unacceptable."

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'Migrant men'

Mr Davies had shared the footage directly from an X account named Cillian, who said the Welsh Refugee Council was using 12-year-old girls in ads to "entice migrant men to come to Wales".

The video was later earmarked by an X community note as a potentially misleading post.

Added context revealed that the video was shot back in December 2023 when year seven students at Brynteg School welcomed refugees escaping the war in Ukraine.

The community note included a link to an article published to the Welsh Refugee Council’s website over a year ago explaining how students from Brynteg had heard from refugees from Ukraine and learnt about the journey refugees take.

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Donations

Students donated books, toys and clothing to Ukrainians to help them adapt to their new life in Wales as part of the project.

Some of the school children took part in a video signposting refugees to the sort of services the Welsh Refugee Council provides - such as English lessons and details on how to access a doctor.

After the video went viral on X, concerns were raised that the footage had been edited to remove male school children and omit details of the welcome project relating to Ukrainian refugees.

Nation.Cymru found that the footage had been taken from a group of videos made by both girls and boys which are still stored on Google drive.

After the video was earmarked as misleading, Mr Davies shared it again in separate post which read: "To provide further context, this video was made as part of a project with the Welsh Refugee Council.

"On its website, the Council says students ‘made Welcome to Wales adverts making it loud and clear sanctuary-seekers are welcome in Wales as well as signposting refugees and asylum seekers to the services we provide’.

"Some people are claiming the video is edited. But that really isn’t the point.

"It’s highly inappropriate for a political organisation to be going into schools and using children in propaganda like this.

"I raised several questions with Senedd ministers about such projects. They must stop. Now."

Complaint

The Welsh Refugee Council told Nation.Cymru it is planning to take up a complaint with the Senedd’s Standards Commissioner against the former Tory leader.

A council spokesperson said: "It is concerning to see a senior politician in Wales, and a former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, publicly share information about our charity that we believe to be factually incorrect and misleading.

"Misinformation of this nature has the potential to undermine the vital work we do, as well as to impact the safety and well-being of vulnerable individuals, including children, sanctuary seekers, and refugees, who are already facing significant challenges. As we saw in the summer, unchecked online abuse and violence, often fuelled by misleading claims, can escalate into real-world harm.

"As with any senior political figure, the words and actions of Mr. Davies carry considerable weight and can influence public opinion on a broad scale. It is essential that members of the Senedd are mindful of the responsibility they hold when speaking publicly, as their words can have far-reaching consequences.

"In light of this, we will be pursuing official channels through the Standards Commission. We hope that all elected representatives recognise the power of their words and act responsibly in what they promote, focusing on solutions that unite our communities rather than contribute to division." 

Former Welsh Government minister Lee Waters branded Andrew RT Davies "despicable" and called on the newly appointed Tory leader Darren Millar to remove the whip.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "The claims relating to this video are untrue and utterly irresponsible. The video in question was produced by a group of young children to show their school as a welcoming place.

"The video was withdrawn in 2023 following extensive online abuse received by the school. Anybody who cares about the safety of our young people should not be sharing false claims about them."