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Tory leader mocked by First Minister for having two jobs

By Emily Price
Leader of the Conservative Senedd group - Darren Millar

Emily Price

The leader of the Senedd Conservatives has been mocked by First Minister Eluned Morgan for having two jobs.

During questions to the FM on Tuesday (January 28), Baroness Morgan took a swipe at Darren Millar after he raised Wales' poor employment rates.

The Tory leader said the government in Westminster had undermined job prospects by imposing extra taxes on employment whilst ministers in Cardiff Bay had levied additional taxes on Welsh firms.

The First Minister hit back saying: "It's interesting isn't it that he is so concerned about unemployment - perhaps he should give up one of his jobs."

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Second job

MSs in the Chamber could be seen stifling giggles whilst Mr Millar shook his head looking deflated.

The Clwyd West MS is paid a salary of £105,000 for his role as the leader of the Conservative Senedd group.

He also works as a chief executive of evangelical Christian organisation that hands out Bibles.

A video of the Senedd exchange was later shared on social media by former deputy minister Lee Waters who said Baroness Morgan had Mr Millar "nailed".

It was also shared by deputy minister Dawn Bowden who posted clapping emojis alongside the clip.

'Clear benefits'

Later on during FMQs, the leader of the opposition was jeered whilst lauding the benefits of Brexit.

Speaking in the Chamber, Mr Millar said that free ports and new trade deals were "clear benefits" of living in a "sovereign United Kingdom".

He asked Eluned Morgan to acknowledge that neither of those things would have been possible without Brexit.

The First Minister said she couldn't believe that the Tory leader was trying to pass Brexit off "as something that has worked".

She said: "The difficulties to recruit in some of our really specialist areas is as a result of Brexit. And those promises that you made in relation to bringing immigration down, well, they didn't come to pass either.

"Promises, promises, promises. We've got to respect the fact that people in Wales did vote for Brexit, but they were told untruths and that is part of the problem. They were made promises that have not been fulfilled."

Passport

During the exchange, leader of Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth could be heard shouting "Irish passport! Irish passport!" at the Tory benches.

Mr Millar voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum - but later revealed he has Irish citizenship.

Commenting after FMQs, the Tory leader said only his party can "grasp the opportunities that post-Brexit freedoms present".

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9 comments

TWBall

Feel a little grubby mocking his second job when it's something so earnest. If it was nefarious financial dealings then that's one thing, handing out Bibles is another. There's something of the air of the playground about this. Feels like a bit of a low blow by Labour?

Reply
Dewi

Eisiau aderyn glan i ganu! Eluned has a huge pension from her days in Strasbourg, and both she and Glenys spend their time on everything except matters concerning Wales. And, of course, when she’s not in the Senedd, she earns £450 a day for simply signing in at the House of Lords.

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Y Cymro

Yes. Eluned Morgan should be careful. Throwing stones in glass houses and such. She's no better than Millar.

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John Ellis

Do we actually know whether she does turn up at the House of Lords, either frequently or even intermittently, to claim the dosh on offer for simply doing that? I've no idea, nor do I know how I might find out. Anyone know?

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Adrian

The Senedd really has now become little more than an embarrassment: it's reminiscent of a primary school playground more often than not.

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Simmo

Mot just the Senedd I feel - I think that politics in general is mud-slinging pantomime at the mo. 'Labour FM lands blows on opposing conservative' is really the near entirety of the story from what I can make out. I am a long way from aligning with Conservative politics and find their team in the Senedd (and especially in Westminster) a bad bunch, but I wish that politics went beyond the yah-boo-sucks it seems to be at mo. While global politics is in such a febrile state though, I suspect that domestic (Senedd, Westminster) politics is going to continue to be an agitated affair, so perhaps an unrealistic hope on my part.

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Vincent

This is the new politics that Johnson created. I assume you were a fan?

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Y Cymro

Two jobs Darren Millar isn't good at his first job let alone his second, whatever that is? And isn't it ironic that Darren Millar took out Irish citizenship highlighted by Plaid's Rhun ap Iorwerth. Wonder why? What, just in case Brexit is a huge failure. What a hypocrite! But who can forget former Somerset MP/GB News presenter featherweight fascist Jacob Rees Mogg. He moved his company HQ to Dublin to avoid tariffs & red tape. What about Brexit cheerleader James Dyson. He could have made his Dyson cleaners in Wales , rejected the idea, then after Brexit moved his business empire to Singapore in the Far East even though he championed the British worker leading up to the Brexit referendum in 2016. And less we forget former Ukip/Brexit/ ex Reform UK leader Richard Tice. This conman forever attacked the European Union, immigrants & Islam, but hypocritically moved with his right-wing obnoxious wife Isabel Oakeshott to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Remember. All championed Brexit and British workers but used tax & trade loopholes to benefit financially themselves or their businesses where we who reside in and are loyal to Wales have to live with the consequences of their actions. Trust a Tory at your peril.

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John Smith

Get over it. Best you go to the EU , Visit Germany, Austria, Spain, France and see exactly what your wonderful EU has achieved and the benefits your missing. Germany is having power blackouts, huge redundancies, large car makers on the verge of bankruptcy, Spain has high unemployment and costs , the floods exacerbated by the EU demanding they remove dams and flood defences because of river rewilding. High costs , Throughout EU is high inflation, all living in rental properties, huge civil unrest..... all caused by the EU and their global policies like netzero , open boarders, digital currencies, speed limits, immigration, and offshoring of all their industry to comply with global targets set by unelected nobodies. Anyone still rabbiting on about Brexit is living in a fantasy of 1990 -2010 before all of Tony Blair and all the sycophant tyrants of the time in Brussels policies started to turn it in to the poison chalice it is now. The EU is no longer respected or the power house it once was. Whether we are any better than them is debatable , but that is what the EU now has become. Only Starmer wants anything to do with them , because he has no ideas of his own , secondly he is lining up his next job and thirdly he is after diplomatic immunity in preparation. Do you know the first thing Tony Blair did when he took office? cancelled the death penalty for Treason. What an odd things to do unless your planning to be treasonous. Starmers first was to ensure his civil service pension was safe and gold stamped. Sounds like Labour are just are more than just corrupt. Pointless writing this really as you may not be able to read, like many of the Welsh kids Labour has failed. on every level over 25 years. how much of this are you willing to take before your irrational hatred of other political parties makes you more informed.

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Mot just the Senedd I feel - I think that politics in general is mud-slinging pantomime at the mo. 'Labour FM lands blows on opposing conservative' is really the near entirety of the story from what I can make out. I am a long way from alig...

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