Welsh Labour accused of 'endorsing' horn band blasting 'toxic' posts

Brassed off! Welsh Labour government is accused of ‘endorsing’ horn band that blasts out ‘toxic’ anti-English and anti-Tory messages after awarding them £17,000 taxpayer-funded grant

• Welsh football supporting brass band Barry Horns accused of ‘toxic’ behaviour
• They were given £17k by Welsh Labour ministers for World Cup entertainment
• But Tory Shadow Sport Minister Tom Giffard said band is anti-Tory over tweets
• Mr Giffard said that the Barry Horns tweeted: ‘Kick the Tories out of the Senedd’

The Welsh Labour government have been accused of ‘endorsing’ brass band run by Welsh football fans blasting out ‘abusive and toxic’ anti-Tory and anti-English messages by Welsh Tories in a row over a £17,000 taxpayer grant.

The Barry Horns – named after the former Wales footballer Barry Horne – take their instruments to Wales football matches around the world to support Gareth Bale and his team.

The trumpet-loving band was awarded the £17,000 grant by Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay as part of a World Cup partnership fund to provide entertainment in Qatar.

But the band has been accused of blowing their own anti-Tory and anti-English horn – and branded as ‘exclusionary’ by a Welsh Conservative shadow minister.

Tories said the band had used social media to promote pro-Welsh nationalist and anti-Conservative rhetoric and should not be receiving taxpayer funding. 

Conservative Shadow Minister for Sport Tom Giffard accused the Welsh Government of ‘endorsing’ the band’s ‘inflammatory’ comments.

Welsh football supporting brass band the Barry Horns has been accused of being ‘abusive and toxic’ by Tory politicians in a row over getting a £17,000 taxpayer grant

Conservative Shadow Minister for Sport Tom Giffard (pictured) accused the Welsh Government of ‘endorsing’ the band’s ‘inflammatory’ comments

He blasted: ‘They don’t even try to hide their political affiliation. Bearing in mind that we have a game coming up against England at the World Cup, they recently said Wales is being destroyed by English rule.

‘In the Senedd election they used the hashtag “Kick the Tories out of the Senedd” and even last year they posted, “Have you joined Plaid Cymru yet? Do it now”.’

Mr Giffard added: ‘I was particularly taken aback by the news that The Barry Horns, an intolerant, exclusionary, abusive, Plaid Cymru supporting band received over £17,000 from a fund aimed at “promoting Wales, projecting our values” and securing a positive legacy”.

‘Anyone who spends even a small amount of time on social media will see The Barry Horns is one of the most abusive and toxic social media accounts today.

‘Most of the content is unrepeatable in this chamber but they seek to castigate any individual with a different political viewpoint to their own.

‘In a nation where the Welsh Conservatives are the second biggest party in terms of parliamentary representation, how can we legitimately use taxpayers’ money to fund an organisation which spreads hate and bile towards such a large proportion of the population?

‘There is a long-established principle in this country that we shouldn’t be using taxpayers’ money to fund party political causes and we should take extra care to ensure the perception that this is happening is not allowed to take hold either.

‘By funding them you could level the accusation at the Welsh Government that they endorse a number of their inflammatory comments.’

But Labour’s Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said the band’s benefit to football fans had nothing to do with their political viewpoints.

He said: ‘Let’s be clear, the person who runs that Twitter account isn’t a supporter of me or my party either, and I don’t have a problem with that.

‘But the band itself is very much part of what takes place around the game, and if you’ve been to a number of games then you know that The Barry Horns within the fan base are something that people actually like and enjoy about the atmosphere that’s created, and that’s what we’re looking to promote.

‘We’ll carry on having our differences on other matters in public life, but I am comfortable with our decision to support The Barry Horns and their engagement with the wider Red Wall in Qatar.’

In a statement, the band said: ‘We used to have a particularly opinionated tenor horn player who knew the Twitter account password, but since lost his place for various reasons.’

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