Commissioner to reconsider ‘sexist’ AM barmaid video
THE National Assembly’s standards commissioner has confirmed he will reconsider whether a video posted on YouTube by Ukip group leader Gareth Bennett is in breach of the AMs’ code of conduct.
The video had featured a barmaid wearing a low-cut top with Labour AM Joyce Watson’s head superimposed on it.
In the video, which has since been taken down, Mr Bennett, a regional AM for South Wales Central, said Ms Watson used to run a pub but “you wouldn’t guess that from looking at her”.
He had added: “She doesn’t look like the life and soul of the party. I’m not sure I would fancy popping in for a quick one at the local if I saw her pulling pints at the bar.”
Sir Roderick Evans, the standards commissioner, originally deemed the video not to be sexist.
His decision led to strong criticism from Ms Watson herself and from many others including fellow AMs and political commentators. Our columnist Carolyn Hitt also raised the issue in her column in Saturday’s Western Mail.
Ms Watson wrote to Sir Roderick, saying: “You do not find it to be ‘sexist or misogynistic’.
“I appreciate that you are not the ‘arbiter of the level of political debate’. However, I maintain that the video falls outside the parameters of robust debate - and that the allusion to ‘buxom barmaids’ is inherently sexist. Subjective as these things are, though, I believe it would have been appropriate to refer my case to the Assembly’s Standards Committee, for wider consideration, especially in light of the [Assembly’s] new Dignity and Respect policy.”
Plaid Cymru AM Bethan Sayed, a regional AM for South Wales West, said: “I think with all due respect the standards commissioner himself probably hasn’t experienced sexism or misogyny in his lifetime and I think if you’re a woman and you’ve been treated in that way then I think they would rightly say ‘that’s sexist’. I don’t think that has a place in Welsh politics at all and that decision should really be reconsidered.”
Gwendolyn Sterk, from Welsh Women’s Aid, also wanted the commissioner to explain how he reached the decision, which she said sends the wrong signal.
“We know young women are put off going into politics purely because of the online abuse they experience and we know that’s a significant reality for women,” she said.
Now Sir Roderick has changed his mind, saying in a statement yesterday that he was working with members of the Assembly’s Standards Committee to ensure the code of conduct was formally aligned with the new Dignity and Respect policy “as soon as possible”.
He added: “With that in mind, and as we are in a period when the relationship between the Dignity and Respect policy and Code of Conduct has not yet been defined, I have decided to review my decision on a complaint submitted by Joyce Watson AM, and, if appropriate, to produce a report on the relevant issues for the consideration of the Standards Committee.”
Mr Bennett’s spokesman did not wish to comment on the latest development.