6. Will the First Minister outline what code of conduct applies to the office of First Minister? (OAQ51218)

The ministerial code.

First Minister, you claimed in this Chamber last year that lobbyists don’t have access to Government Ministers. You had to go back on that when it turned out that they do. You claimed this year that Plaid Cymru Ministers were somehow implicated in the Lisvane land deal scandal when £39 million was lost. The sale was decided after Plaid had left Government. Lastly, you gave an interview to the ‘South Wales Echo’ about local development plans, then you claimed that you never make comments on LDPs or planning applications and the reason why the story appeared in the paper in that way was because I put it there, and phrased it that way. That’s a really serious allegation, to question a journalist’s integrity like that, and I have no influence whatsoever over the ‘South Wales Echo’. You need to be held to account and be properly investigated. So, since you won’t answer me in any other way, I’m asking you now, in front of the people of Wales: will you voluntarily refer yourself to be investigated under the ministerial code of conduct like Alex Salmond did in 2012? Do you have the courage to do that?

Let me see. Let’s just examine his position as a politician. He’s not done well in making allegations—wild allegations—in the past in the courts. He has found himself in a position where he’s disciplined by the ombudsman, if I remember rightly, in terms of his conduct as a councillor, and he’s been expelled from his own party group. Can I suggest he has long hard look at himself first before criticising anyone else?