Welsh Ombudsman official allegedly wrote ‘F--- the Tories’ online
A senior member of staff at the Welsh Ombudsman’s office is under investigation, accused of breaking impartiality rules, after they allegedly posted “F--- the Tories” on social media.
The official at the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales is accused of using an online pseudonym to criticise the Conservatives on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Welsh news service Nation.Cymru reported that a member of staff was being investigated over an X account – @SweetlittleSewandsew – which has now been disabled.
‘Morally reprehensible’
Using the account, the employee is alleged to have posted: “While we are all debating what GL [Gary Lineker] said in talking about the boycott of MOTD [Match of the Day], we are not talking about the fact the government is trying to pass a Bill which is incompatible with the Human Rights Act and morally reprehensible. F--- the Tories.” The expletive was spelled out in full in the original message.
On another occasion, the account responded to someone who had written: “Seeing far too many Vote Conservative signs for my liking. How can anyone with a conscience still vote for them?” SweetlittleSewandsew said: “I’ve come to the conclusion that people are just too stubborn to admit they were wrong, so double down. It’s bonkers.”
The account also reportedly posted: “Gimme an E, gimme an N, gimme a T, gimme an I, gimme a T, gimme an L, gimme an E, gimme a D, what does it spell Boris Johnson”.
It also hailed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour as “an honest return to party roots” which offered “a genuine alternative” to the Conservatives.
‘Anti–Europe’
In a post referring to Geri Halliwell, the Spice Girls singer, it claimed Ms Halliwell as a “Tory Stan” – an obsessive fan – saying she had “always been an awful human being” and “was spouting Tory nonsense back in the 90s”. “She and Posh were anti–Europe (although I think a remainer now) and royalist,” the post added.
Responding to the news of the investigation on X, David TC Davies, the Welsh Secretary, said: “No one can have confidence in the impartiality of the Ombudsman’s office.
“The behaviour of the individual concerned is reprehensible but others in the office must’ve been aware of what was going on.”
Mr Davies added that “the Ombudsman’s office as it exists should be dismantled” and “something new implemented”.
A spokesman for the Ombudsman’s office told Nation.Cymru that it had been “made aware of these allegations” and it was “dealing with this matter”.
“As I am sure you can appreciate, we take allegations of this nature very seriously and will investigate in accordance with our Standards of Conduct. We cannot comment further at this stage as we will need to conduct our own internal investigation.”
