Two Labour MPs call for Carl Sargeant death inquiry
Carl Sargeant: First minister orders independent inquiry
(about 2 hours later)
Two Welsh Labour MPs have called for an independent inquiry into circumstances around the death of former Welsh Government minister Carl Sargeant.
An independent inquiry will be held into the first minister's handling of Carl Sargeant's sacking, days before he was found dead.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said on Thursday he would be open to scrutiny over how he sacked Mr Sargeant, who was found dead on Tuesday.
Carwyn Jones ordered the inquiry amid mounting pressure, and shortly after Mr Sargeant's family said a probe should start "immediately".
The AM was being investigated over claims of "touching or groping" and is understood to have taken his own life.
The former communities secretary was being investigated over claims of "touching or groping".
MP Ian Lucas said an inquiry was "in the best interests of all involved".
He was understood to have taken his own life on Tuesday.
The family of Mr Sargeant have said they hoped there would be a "full investigation" into how the allegations were handled.
A spokesman for the first minister said Mr Jones believes a senior QC should lead the inquiry to examine his "actions and decisions".
Mr Sargeant was dismissed from his job as communities secretary last Friday and suspended by the Labour Party.
Permanent secretary Shan Morgan, the Welsh Government's most senior civil servant, is to contact the family to discuss who that person will be, and the inquiry's terms of reference.
He had vowed to clear his name but said he had not been made aware of the full details of the allegations.
But the first minister's spokesman added: "It is our understanding that such an inquiry should not take place before the outcome of a coroner's inquest - but we will take further advice on this matter."
The former minister was found dead in his home four days later.
Mr Jones previously said he would be open to scrutiny over how he sacked the AM for for Alyn and Deeside from his Welsh Government job as communities secretary on Friday.
On Thursday, Mr Jones said: "The family deserve to have their questions answered and if that isn't possible through the inquest then I will endeavour to make that happen through other means.
But on Thursday, in his first public remarks since Mr Sargeant's death, he suggested an inquiry should only be held if it was not possible for the AM's family to get answers through an inquest.
"I welcome any scrutiny of my actions in the future and it is appropriate for that to be done independently."
The latest statement from the Welsh Government was released minutes after a solicitor for the family said they were "deeply" concerned the first minister suggested that the answers the family seek should be dealt with in a coroner's inquest.
But Wrexham MP Mr Lucas, in a letter to the first minister, said he did not believe an inquest "will address the issues necessary to learn the lessons of this terrible course of events".
They called for a "full independent inquiry" to "be established immediately" in consultation with the family.
Mark Tami, the Labour MP for Mr Sargeant's Alyn and Deeside constituency, said he did not think the statement would satisfy those angered by the process and grieving for Mr Sargeant.
"What a coroner's inquest cannot determine or appear to be determining is the civil or criminal liability, to apportion guilt or attribute blame, or to be seen to apportion guilt or to attribute blame," the statement read.
"We need to have an inquiry into what exactly had happened and the family are happy with those terms of reference," he told BBC Wales.
It added that an inquiry will determine the "reasons for the complete abdication of responsibility and duty of care that was owed to Carl".
Mr Tami said he was "slightly confused" about Mr Jones' indications over an inquiry - whether there would be one or only if an inquest "didn't come to something".
"We need to look at those procedures because they're not safeguarding. We've obviously got to look to protect those who are victims or those who are making allegations," he added.
"But equally we have a duty of care to those who the allegations are being made against."
A Labour AM, who did not want to be named, agreed with the calls for an independent probe, saying Mr Tami and Mr Lucas' views are "very important and need to be given proper consideration".
Welsh Labour's former public services minister Leighton Andrews said the first minister's statement on Mr Sargeant's death had been "too little, too late".
The former cabinet minister added: "The process would have gone on well into January next year and there was no short conclusion.
"It would have been hell for him and his family for some time."
Mr Andrews said the first minister was likely to be feeling "traumatised" by events.
But, commenting on Thursday's statement by the first minister, he said: "In north Wales, in Carl Sargeant's own constituency, in Connah's Quay, where he grew up and still lived, it will be seen as too little, too late."
Mr Andrews, who was the Rhondda AM between 2003 and 2016, was critical of the decision by the first minister to give media interviews about the sacking after the party's investigation had been launched.
"I was severely troubled by the process," he told the BBC on Friday. "This was not eased by remarks the first minister made on Monday when he expanded on the allegations."
Meanwhile, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said permanent secretary Shan Morgan - the Welsh Government's most senior civil servant - should investigate Mr Andrews's earlier claims of a bullying culture within the administration with Mr Sargeant being one of the targets.
Assembly members will pay formal tributes to Mr Sargeant at the Senedd when business resumes on Tuesday.
An inquest into Mr Sargeant's death is due to be opened on Monday.
David Banks, an expert in media law, told BBC Radio Wales it was "nonsense" to say an inquest prevented anyone giving any comments or explanation.
"Bureaucracy uses the fact of an inquest to try to shut down any comments or explanation as to what happened to someone before their death because of a notional idea that inquests can be prejudiced," he told BBC Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales programme.
"We can have some answers now, and certainly the family of Mr Sargeant and the wider community he represented deserve those answers."
