Reform is not racist, Welsh leader says in heated election debate

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Reform is not racist, Welsh leader says in heated election debate 5 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Adrian Browne and David Deans , Wales political reporter Welsh leaders say which parties they will and won't work with to form a government Reform's Welsh leader has said his party is not racist in a heated Senedd election debate where leaders clashed over immigration. Dan Thomas made the comments while criticising the Welsh government's Nation of Sanctuary policy , which aims to help refugees and asylum seekers placed in Wales to integrate and access public services. On Wales' Your Voice Live: The Leaders' Debate the leaders of four left-wing parties ruled out working with Reform to form a government, but did not rule out working with each other.

Meanwhile Thomas challenged all the main parties to publish the full costs of their promises to voters ahead of next week's Senedd election on 7 May. The Wales Senedd election debate fact-checked A simple guide to every new constituency in Wales - and all the election candidates Who should I vote for? Compare party policies Immigration is not something which the Welsh government controls, but in recent years it has had policies to assist asylum seekers and refugees, which it has labelled the "Nation of Sanctuary".

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Official figures say it makes up a small proportion of the government's overall budget, with the vast majority of the cash being spent on supporting Ukrainians in Wales who are fleeing the war with Russia. The debate on Tuesday evening saw strong exchanges on the policy, which is opposed by both the Conservatives and Reform. Wales Green leader Anthony Slaughter accused the two parties of playing a "dangerous game" in which immigrants get blamed for "decaying" public services.

Reform's Thomas rejected this: "Listening to the majority of the people in Wales isn't a dangerous game. "It's called democracy and it's called listening to people. " He was challenged on comments made when he was leader of Barnet Council in 2021 that it had a "proud history of providing sanctuary".

"That was before the floodgates were opened", he said. "The fact that I welcomed that showed that we're not racist, we're very reasonable people". The 90-minute debate involved the leaders of the six largest parties in Wales Thomas was asked by presenter Bethan Rhys Roberts whether he "distanced" himself from a social media comment made by a prominent member of the party, Arron Banks, which sparked accusations of racism from Plaid Cymru .

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Banks is not standing in the Senedd election and told Wales that his comment was " a joke", adding that "Plaid have understandably lost their sense of humour". Thomas did not respond directly but said: "I've had my Welshness questioned by supporters of Plaid Cymru. They've called me a plastic Taffy because I happened to live in England.

"I've been called an English nationalist, because I happen to be a member of Reform. I am Welsh through and through".

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.