Laura Anne Jones was suspended from the Senedd over a racial slur but says she is ‘not a racist, by any stretch of the imagination’
Reform’s Laura Anne Jones, who was suspended from the Welsh Parliament over making a racial slur in a WhatsApp group, has said she is “not a racist”.
Jones told BBC Radio Wales that the slur she used about Chinese people “was a term used for a takeaway” during her childhood.
In a WhatsApp exchange about the Chinese-owned app TikTok in August 2023, Jones said: “No c***** spies for me.”
A Senedd Committee investigation concluded that her actions “fell far below the standards expected” of a Senedd member and led to her two-week suspension in November.
Speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast yesterday, the Reform’s only Senedd member said: “I shouldn’t have said those words. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Asked why she said it, the MS for South East Wales said: “Growing up around here, when I was young, which is a long time ago now – I’m 46 – language was very different and that was a term used for a takeaway.
“I’m not going to sit here and make excuses because I’m genuinely sorry for that.
“I’ve done language training […] and it will never happen again.
“I’ll be very, very careful of the language that I use. I never wanted to hurt anyone and that was never the intention.”
“I’ve done a lot with the Chinese community in the past and since and had a good relationship with them, actually. So, no, I will always be supportive of everybody in this country.
Jones then went on to suggest that she had been accused of racism as people know Reform is on track to win the next election.
She said: “I am not a racist, by any stretch of the imagination, which everybody knows and everyone jumped on the bandwagon because I am now Reform, because they’re scared. They know that we are on track to win the next Senedd election.”
Reform does not currently have a leader in Wales. Jones has said the party will “soon” announce who its leader will be in Wales.
Nigel Farage’s party has yet to formally announce any candidates or policies ahead of the Senedd elections on 7 May.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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