- David Deans
- Political Affairs Editor, BBC Wales
Mark Drakeford said he had to accept free five-star hotel accommodation for his meetings in Qatar
Welsh premier Mark Drakeford says he has no regrets accepting free accommodation in a five-star hotel in Qatar during the World Cup.
On Wednesday, the BBC revealed that Qatar had paid accommodation costs for two ministers and four officials at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Drakeford said he had to accept the hospitality for safety reasons and because he couldn’t go to meetings without it.
“That was not the way we chose to go to Qatar, but there was no avoiding it,” he added.
News of this gratuitous hospitality raised concerns it may have undermined the Welsh government’s position on human rights, while Amnesty International challenged the two ministers to prove they had raised the issue.
Qatar has been criticized for its treatment of gay people, women and migrant workers.
Drakeford said he raised human rights concerns at “every opportunity imaginable” while in the country.
While the Welsh government paid £13,000 for the flights, a BBC Freedom of Information inquiry found that Drakeford, Economy Minister Vaughan Gething and four officials were paid by Qatar to stay in a five-star hotel.
image copyright Average AP
Drakeford faced calls not to participate in the tournament due to human rights concerns
The two ministers attended separate matches, with two officials each in attendance, and each of those trips lasted three nights.
Drakeford’s trip came despite Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to participate in the tournament.
UK government ministers also attended the World Cup, including Wales minister David TC Davies, but it is unclear whether they accepted the same hospitality.
“I don’t regret it, because it was the only way to achieve the goals I went to Qatar for,” Drakeford told BBC Wales.
He added: ‘The security system surrounding matches simply means that unless you are willing to accept the regulations in place on the pitch, you will not be able to get to the places you need to go and attend the meetings you need to go to. you should have attended.”
He continued: “This was not how we chose to go to Qatar, but there was no way around it, if we were truly to achieve the goals we were trying to achieve from this visit.”
“In every meeting I attended, whether it was with government ministers, companies or arts institutions, or interviews with local media there in Qatar, human rights, human values or labor rights issues were addressed on every imaginable occasion,” he said.
image copyright Getty Images
The Qatari government hosted Mark Drakeford and the Minister of Economy at the five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel
The Welsh government has repeatedly defended the trip, saying the tournament gave them the opportunity to promote Wales on the world stage and to seek investment from Qatar.
Drakeford said last November that going to Qatar was “a difficult and delicately balanced decision”.
When asked about the arrangements for UK ministers, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: “The World Cup was a big international event and it was right that the UK government was represented.”
He added: “The details of the visit will be published in the usual way.”
