The Welsh Conservatives have criticised the decision by the Welsh Government to give £17,000 of tax payers money to the Barry Horns brass band.
The money was give to the group as part of the £1.8 million World Cup partner support fund which is supporting 19 projects promoting Welsh culture, arts and heritage ahead of Wales' historic World Cup appearance in Qatar. The a nnouncement was made by economy minister Vaughan Gething on September 27 and included plans for a national football museum in Wrexham.
Speaking during Plenary in the Welsh Parliament the same day, Welsh Conservative MS Tom Giffard said to Mr Gething: " The Barry Horns, who, I have seen, have received £17,032 of taxpayers' money from the World Cup partner support fund.... If this World Cup is to bring us together as a nation and spread inclusivity in the way that you suggest, it's more important than ever that the Welsh Government distances itself from this particular organisation.
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"Anyone who spends even a small amount of time on social media will see that 'The Barry Horns' is one of the most abusive and toxic social media accounts in Wales today. Most of their content is unrepeatable in this Chamber, but they seek to castigate any individual with a different political viewpoint to their own. I myself have had to block them on Twitter for the way they've castigated me personally, and many of my colleagues on these Welsh Conservative benches have had to do the same."
Mr Giffard went on to question the use of taxpayers money to fund the groups trip to Qatar. "In a nation where Welsh Conservatives are the second biggest party in terms of parliamentary representation... how can we legitimately use taxpayers' money to fund an organisation that spreads hate and bile towards such a large proportion of the population? Indeed, they don't even try to hide their political affiliation; bearing in mind that we've got a game against England coming up in the World Cup, they recently said that Wales was being destroyed by English rule.
"In the Senedd election, they used the hashtag 'kick the Tories out of the Senedd', and even last year they posted, 'Have you joined Plaid Cymru yet? Do it now.' It's a long-established principle in this country that we shouldn't be using taxpayers' money to fund party political causes, and we should take extra care to ensure that the perception that this is happening is not allowed to take hold either. So you'll understand my surprise to see them included in this list, and by funding them, you could level the accusation at Welsh Government that they endorse a number of their inflammatory comments. So finally, Minister, will you commit to reviewing the £17,000 figure awarded by your Government to this group?"
In response the economy minister said that the Barry Horns account didn't support Welsh Labour and that he was "comfortable" with that".
"Let's be clear, the person who runs that Twitter account isn't a supporter of me and my party either, and I don't have a problem with that," said Mr Gething. "But the band itself is very much part of what takes place around the game, and, if you've been to a number of games, then you know that The Barry Horns, within the fan base, are something that people actually like and enjoy about the atmosphere that's created, and that's what we're looking to promote.
"So, it's not an endorsement of individual views of individual members in or around the band itself; it is about what the band does as a really positive projection and extension of the Red Wall. And when they're part of team Wales and the Red Wall, I think all of us can see something to be proud of and that adds to the atmosphere and the environment. We'll carry on having our differences on other matters in public life, but I am comfortable with our decision to support The Barry Horns and their engagement with the wider Red Wall in Qatar."
The band themselves have said that the tweets in question where posted by a band member who is no longer with the group and that Twitter had "cleared them of any wrongdoing". The statement read: "We used to have a particularly opinionated Eb tenor horn player who knew the Twitter account password, but since lost his place for various reasons.
“As it happened Twitter cleared us of any wrongdoing anyway, and cited spam reporting by bot accounts. Incidentally, if anyone else out there in the Red Wall is proficient at Eb tenor horn, please do get in touch for an audition.”
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