Reform UK\u2019s only member of the Welsh parliament has been suspended for two weeks over a racial slur she posted in an office WhatsApp group.<\/p>\n
Laura Anne Jones used an offensive Chinese slur in a discussion about the threat of the Chinese government utilising TikTok for espionage<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Wednesday evening, the Welsh parliament voted for Jones, who defected from the Tories to Reform in the summer, to be suspended for a fortnight without pay.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019s suspension is a blow for Reform, which has high hopes of making dramatic gains in next year\u2019s Senedd elections.<\/p>\n When Jones joined Reform, its leader, Nigel Farage, said the party was confident the allegations against her would \u201call go away\u201d<\/a>. Some people wavering over whether to back Reform candidates at the ballot box next year in Wales may be put off by Jones\u2019s exclusion.<\/p>\n It comes four weeks after Reform\u2019s hopes of winning the Caerphilly byelection<\/a> were dashed by Plaid Cymru. The loss there was seen as a rejection by many voters of Reform\u2019s anti-immigration stance<\/a> in a country that has long prided itself on being welcoming to newcomers.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019s suspension follows an investigation by the Senedd\u2019s standards commissioner<\/a>, Douglas Bain.<\/p>\n A report<\/a> by the Senedd\u2019s standards of conduct committee said Bain found that, in August 2023, Jones posted a racist slur about Chinese spies in a WhatsApp group.<\/p>\n The report said: \u201cAt that time there was public concern about the use of TikTok by the Chinese government to gather information.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the report, in another WhatsApp exchange involving Jones in November 2023, a member of her staff posted the message: \u201cSuella [Braverman, the former UK home secretary] was correct. We have two-tier policing. It was clear over the weekend if your [sic] white working class, you get hammered, if you\u2019re an Islamist it\u2019s all fine, spew all the hate you want.\u201d<\/p>\n