A Welsh Conservative member of the Senedd was defiant after being given an official reprimand for social media posts saying Wales had a “blanket” 20mph speed limit.
Natasha Asghar, Tory shadow transport minister in the Welsh Parliament, received an official telling-off in the Senedd on Wednesday.
Ms Asghar had used social media to say Wales had a “blanket” 20mph policy.
However, the standards commissioner and a committee made up of fellow MSs said her comments were inaccurate because there are exemptions to the policy.
The committee ruled she brought the Senedd into “disrepute” by using the word.
A default lower speed limit in built-up areas was introduced in Wales in September last year but not all 30mph roads have seen speeds reduced as councils have the power to exempt certain routes.
Addressing the Senedd, Ms Asghar argued there were “bigger issues at hand” and insisted the comments were just her opinion.
She said: “I, Natasha Asghar, solely and respectfully object to the ruling that I have breached three rules within the code of conduct.
“To say that I brought the Senedd into disrepute by using the word ‘blanket’, for me, is purely absurd.
“Let me be abundantly clear to everyone: I make no apology whatsoever for standing up for my constituents and residents across Wales when it comes to the Welsh Government’s 20mph speed limit policy.”
Ms Asghar was censured by the Senedd, an official reprimand noting disapproval of a member’s behaviour.
The censure was passed unanimously with no objections, including from Ms Asghar.
The shadow minister had previously sat on the conduct committee which had cleared Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies of using the same phrase earlier this year.
That committee had noted the language was “imprecise and inaccurate”.
Despite being involved in that decision, she continued to use the language herself.
In a report, the committee said she was “shortly afterwards acting in contradiction to it” which they said “brings the Senedd into disrepute and fails to show the leadership expected of members”.
Elin Jones, the Llywydd (presiding officer), said she had changed her mind on the word, having initially allowed it to be used and asked Ms Asghar to “respect” her decision.
She said: “I allowed it to be used in this chamber for a number of months, but once the standards commissioner and the standards committee had ruled that it was an imprecise and inaccurate way of describing the 20mph policy, I have changed my view and it is not correct to use it in that context in this chamber any more.”
