- David Deans
- Political affairs editor, BBC Wales
Mark Drakeford said he had to accept free accommodation in a five-star hotel for his meetings in Qatar
Welsh Premier Mark Drakeford says he does not regret accepting free accommodation at a five-star hotel in Qatar during the World Cup.
On Wednesday, the BBC revealed that Qatar had paid the accommodation bills for two ministers and four officials at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Drakeford said he had to agree to the hospitality for security reasons, and because he could not go to the meetings without it.
“This was not the way we chose to go to Qatar, but there was no escaping it,” he added.
News of this free hospitality raised concerns that it may have undermined the Welsh Government’s position on human rights, while Amnesty International challenged the two ministers to show that they had raised the issues.
Qatar has been criticized for its treatment of gay people, women, and migrant workers.
Drakeford said he raised human rights concerns at “every conceivable opportunity” while in the country.
While the Welsh government paid £13,000 for the flights, a BBC Freedom of Information Act request found that Drakeford, Economics Minister Vaughan Gething and four officials were paid by Qatar to stay in a five-star hotel.
image copyright PA Media
Drakeford has faced calls not to attend the tournament amid human rights concerns
The two ministers attended separate matches, with two officials present with each, and each of those trips lasted three nights.
Drakeford’s trip came despite Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to attend the tournament.
UK government ministers also attended the World Cup, including Minister for Wales David TC Davies, but it is unclear whether they accepted the same hospitality.
“I don’t regret it, because it was the only way it was possible to achieve the goals for which I went to Qatar,” Drakeford told BBC Wales.
He added: “The security system surrounding the matches simply means that unless you are prepared to accept the arrangements that were in place on the ground, you will not be able to get to the places you have to get to and to attend the meetings that you should have attended.”
He continued, “This was not the way we chose to go to Qatar, but there was no escaping it, if we really wanted to achieve the goals we were seeking to achieve from this visit.”
“In every meeting I attended, whether it was government ministers, companies or art institutions, or interviews with local media there in Qatar, issues related to human rights, human values or workers’ rights were covered at every conceivable opportunity,” he said.
image copyright GettyImages
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 it an 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”.
Asked about the arrangements for UK ministers, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: “The World Cup was a major international event and it was right that the UK government was represented in it.”
He added, “The details of the visit will be published in the usual manner.”
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