Calls for Welsh Labour candidate to resign over tobacco links

Alun Davies, Labour candidate for Ceredigion, is coming under pressure from Plaid Cymru for his links with the Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA).

Mr Davies, who is hoping to win the seat from Plaid Cymru, works as a lobbyist in Cardiff and numbers the TMA among his clients.

Plaid Cymru’s Dr Dai Lloyd AM, who sits on the Assembly Committee to ban smoking in public spaces, said: “We are calling for this New Labour candidate to stand down now that we know he has been taking money from the tobacco industry. His position directly contradicts what we thought was New Labour’s policy on smoking.”

But Wales’ First Minister, Labour’s Rhodri Morgan, has come to Mr Davies’ defence. He said: “If people are working in PR, they get clients, they don’t always have the ability to decide. It’s not going to have any impact at all. It’s just not relevant.”