I wish to begin this column by utterly condemning the choice of language deployed by the Daily Mail when referring to Vaughan Gething in a recent article. An archaic word was used, surely deliberately given the editorial process there, which provoked a high-click-rate reaction from readers. I believe that behaviour to be unacceptable.

The article prompted a statement from the Labour Party in Wales’ BAME Committee. The statement quite rightly, in my view, took aim at the Daily Mail’s language. It is important to note that the statement was issued the day after an emergency meeting of the Labour Senedd Group. At that meeting, supporters of the First Minister claimed that the ongoing scrutiny of Gething’s scandals by the media was racially driven.