A statement regarding Sunday's (10th December) episode of Politics Wales

I was incredibly disappointed that during a recent interview, Dawn Bowden made a number of inaccurate claims relating to our communications regarding allegations of sexism and misogyny in the WRU.


Given the importance of the issue and the trust a number of whistle-blowers placed in me by sharing their stories, I feel it is important to clarify the communication between Dawn and I.


Contrary to the statements in her interview, I provided her with contact details of several women across the WRU who were willing to speak with her about their experiences.


I first raised concerns regarding sexism and misogyny at the WRU with Dawn in early 2022 and she indicated that she was happy to speak with any of the women involved. I followed this up on multiple occasions, sharing the contact details of the women affected who were willing to meet with Dawn, as well as making her aware of the emotional impact this was having on these women.


This was prior to the release of the BBC Wales documentary and there is a record of all of this correspondence that I’m happy to share.


I am still unclear as to why Dawn chose not to contact these women.


Given the seriousness of the allegations I shared I remain extremely frustrated that my representations to Dawn were met with what I can only describe as apathy, and that seemingly it was only media interest that led to action.


Whilst I am pleased that action has now been taken, I am again disappointed at a rather cynical attempt to rewrite history in order to hide political inaction.


I’d ask Dawn Bowden to withdraw her recent remarks about me, to apologise to the women whose outreach she ignored, and to seriously consider her position.


I stand by everything I have said publicly on this issue.