A Welsh minister provided private reassurance to the bereaved daughter of a Covid-19 victim that Plaid Cymru would honour its commitment to establish a pandemic inquiry, two months before her party took office. According to BBC News, Heledd Fychan, now Welsh culture minister, sent a direct message to Sam Smith-Higgins, co-chair of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru, in March clarifying that Plaid was not "rolling back" on its commitment despite earlier comments that had caused confusion.
The private message came after Fychan had given a BBC Wales interview in which she described Plaid's proposal as an investigation rather than a full inquiry, prompting concern among campaigners. In her message sent via X, Fychan told Smith-Higgins:
Sorry you've had to spend the day clarifying - I communicated badly the type of inquiry we would be setting up. I was trying to explain it wouldn't be something that would last years and be open-ended. I know Mabon [ap Gwynfor] and you have worked closely on what's needed and there's no rolling back on that commitment.
Smith-Higgins, whose father died from hospital-acquired Covid-19 in January 2021 at age 73, has since accused Plaid ministers of systematic deception. She told BBC Wales that the party had
lied to us consistently from after the election, before the election, and expressed feeling
personally responsible for misleading themafter relaying Plaid's assurances to bereaved families.
What changed between Plaid's promises and the announcement?
Plaid Cymru had publicly supported a Wales-only public inquiry dating back to the 2021 Senedd election, but shifted its position in March to back what the party's then-health spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor described as a
short, sharp and focusedreview instead. When the review was formally announced on Tuesday, Welsh ministers revealed it would lack legal powers to compel witnesses to testify, contradicting ap Gwynfor's earlier statements that the exercise would possess such authority.
The timing of Fychan's reassurance message is significant. On the same day she sent her private message to Smith-Higgins, ap Gwynfor responded to the campaigner's concern about Plaid "doing the dirty" on them by stating he
wouldn'tbetray their trust. He elaborated that Plaid was
proposing a focused inquiry with a clear, concise terms of reference, distinguishing it from what he called the lengthy, expensive processes typically associated with public inquiries.
How have bereaved families responded?
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group has announced it will not participate in the review process. Catherine Griffiths, co-lead of the bereaved families group, told Radio Wales Breakfast that Fychan had
privately reassured us that it was a matter of semantics, claiming the minister suggested she had simply
used the wrong word. Griffiths emphasised that
earlier this year, they were still promising an inquiry.
The families group had previously contributed to the UK Covid inquiry and had consistently called for a Wales-specific public inquiry with full investigative powers. Their decision to withdraw from the Welsh review represents a significant rejection of the government's approach.
What is the government's defence?
First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth acknowledged to BBC Wales that his position on the issue had evolved. He stated:
There's certainly been no attempt to mislead people, and argued that his party
said very, very firmly in the manifesto what we were doing. He characterised the exercise as a review rather than an inquiry, noting that
Heledd Fychan, I was reading again this week things that she was saying that it wasn't about statutory powers, that it was a review.
Ap Iorwerth justified the decision to pursue a review rather than a full inquiry by pointing to the work already undertaken by the UK Covid inquiry. He explained that
a lot of evidence has been gathered by the UK Covid inquirywhich had
done a pretty good job at gathering that evidence. He suggested the Welsh review would serve a different purpose:
What has not happened is for then that evidence and what is on the table and the witness statements and so on to be looked at from a Welsh perspective.
The first minister acknowledged that campaigners
are not going to get the model that they were looking for, but stated he had received support from
other bereaved people saying you're doing the right thing here. He indicated that where the review identified gaps in existing evidence, it would be able to request witnesses to come forward voluntarily, though without the power to compel attendance.
The Welsh government declined to comment directly on the private messages or Smith-Higgins' allegations of systematic dishonesty. This silence has intensified criticism from bereaved families who feel their trust was exploited to secure political support before the election.
Key Facts
- Heledd Fychan assured campaigners in March that Plaid would not abandon its inquiry commitment, contradicting her earlier public statements
- The announced review lacks statutory powers to compel witness testimony, despite previous assurances from Mabon ap Gwynfor that it would possess such authority
- Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru has refused to engage with the review process in response to what members describe as repeated deception
- First Minister ap Iorwerth acknowledged changing his party's position but denied any deliberate attempt to mislead the public
