Payment for Whips
Some four weeks ago William Graham came to see me, quite correctly, with a copy letter that had been circulated to members of the Commission with regard to payment for Whips. It was from the Minister. William asked why I hadn’t told him about a meeting with Rhodri discussing payment for Whips. I told him that there had been no such meeting, indeed no such discussion. I read the letter and was astounded at the suggestion of payment for Whips that it contained, and more surprised that Rhodri claimed to have a consensus amongst the parties in the Assembly.
William confirmed to me afterwards that it appeared that the other parties also had had no discussion on this matter, and that talk of a consensus was therefore nonsense. I spoke to Mike German, and later to Ieuan Wyn Jones, to confirm that they too had had no such discussion.
My own view from the start was that any such suggestion would have to be considered by external consultants who look at all the salaries and expenses of Assembly Members, and therefore give impartial arm’s length advice. Where considerable sums of public money are involved, it is only right it is done in this way.
I remain surprised at the way that this issue arose. I have been trying for some time to get a Leaders’ meeting to discuss many issues that arise in the Assembly that would benefit from discussion amongst the four parties, but so far we have been unable to find a slot in the First Minister’s diary. I hope a meeting can be held soon to resolve some of these issues and to try to understand how such a letter could have been written.
