'Mike couldn't care less!' MS on his phone during Covid evidence criticised

A Welsh Labour politician has been accused of not respecting families who lost relatives to Covid after he was seen using his phone during a Senedd committee hearing.

A member of a group representing bereaved families criticised a lack of support from the Welsh government for their campaign when she pointed to Mike Hedges and said: "Mike's on his phone now, Mike couldn't care less".

In a heated exchange, one of the two women from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru told the Swansea West MS to "give us respect and listen to us".

Hedges admitted he had been "looking things up" before telling the women he would "certainly listen" and adding "you will have to listen to me later on".

On Wednesday the Senedd's Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee heard evidence about the Covid pandemic, after a committee set up specifically to look at the Welsh government's handling of the pandemic collapsed.

During evidence, Sam Smith-Higgins from the bereaved families campaign group pointed to Hedges and pointed out he was on his phone while she was giving evidence.

Hedges responded saying: "I was looking things up actually... and if you don't want me to look things up, I won't."

"You've been on your phone all the way through this and it's kind of rude," Ms Smith-Higgins said back to him.

Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees, also giving evidence on behalf of the group, said: "Please could you give us the respect and listen to us."

Hedges said: "I will certainly listen to you and you will have to listen to me later on".

Ms Smith-Higgins said: "This is what we've felt up against all along - Welsh Labour thinks we're trouble makers and actually, I could cry."

Hedges later told the BBC he was "checking something prior to asking a question".

The bereaved families group has long campaigned for a Wales-specific inquiry into what happened but the Welsh government rejected the calls saying the UK inquiry would be comprehensive.

Since the UK inquiry reported, opposition parties and campaign groups have renewed calls for a Welsh-specific inquiry.