Reform boycotts Senedd after member banned for saying white people being replaced

Reform politicians will partially boycott the Senedd to protest the ban of one of their politicians for claiming white people are being "replaced" in the UK.

The party's Welsh leader Helen Jenner claimed Joe Martin's ban was because of "undue pressure" from governing party Plaid Cymru and was an "infringement on freedom of speech".

Martin had been told he would not be allowed to speak in the Senedd's chamber until he apologised for the remarks, which the parliament's Presiding Officer Huw Irranca-Davies called "unnecessarily provocative and deliberately offensive".

The party said its members would withdraw from most of Wednesday's proceedings before returning to vote later in the evening.

Jenner confirmed her party's boycott on the steps of the Senedd on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier on Wednesday she said in a statement that freedom of speech was "a fundamental part of our democracy".

"It means very little if it only applies to opinions we agree with," she said.

"We cannot allow the Senedd to become a place where challenging views are shut down."

Martin was also backed by the leader of right-wing party Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe.

On X, Lowe said the Welsh Parliament should be "shut down" if it was "going to shut down legitimate debate around demographic security and immigration".

Martin's Caerdydd Penarth constituency includes some of Wales' most ethnically diverse communities.