WELSH first minister Carwyn Jones has been compared to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un after a Labour backbencher claimed he sacked her from a committee for speaking out against the M4 relief road plans.

On Tuesday, October 13, Labour member for Cardiff Central Jenny Rathbone said Mr Jones had dismissed her as chairman of the All Wales European Programme Monitoring Committee after she called for a debate on what she called the “massive spending commitment” of the project.

In a statement released on Tuesday evening Ms Rathbone also criticised what she called an “unhealthy culture at the top of the Welsh Government, which does not allow for rigorous debate”.

Speaking during a Senedd question session yesterday, Mr Jones defended his decision, saying a committee chairman had a responsibility to act “in the spirit of collective responsibility” and the comments made by Ms Rathbone conflicted with that.

But her sacking has been widely criticised across the Welsh political landscape, with a spokesman for the country’s Welsh Conservatives saying Mr Jones was being “very poorly advised”.

“We all saw the celebrations in North Korea over the weekend,” he said.

“Little did we know we have our very own Kim Jong-un here in Wales.

“The first minister has serious questions to answer over Jenny Rathbone’s claims about the culture at the heart of Welsh Government.”

Meanwhile Liberal Democrat AM Eluned Parrott claimed Ms Rathbone’s sacking showed how much the Welsh Labour party was in “complete disarray” over the relief road plans.

“For members to break ranks now shows how desperate Welsh Labour are becoming,” she said.

“There must be an election coming, as never in the past four years has she spoken out against Labour’s disastrous running of our health service, our schools or Cardiff Council.”

Plaid Cymru AM for Mid and West Wales Simon Thomas praised Ms Rathbone for speaking out.

“Jenny Rathbone has today shone a light on the way the Welsh Government operates,” he said. “We already knew that this was a government that tried to avoid scrutiny where possible but the Labour AM’s account of top-down decision-making suggests that this is a government that hides from scrutiny and debate.”

Claiming people in Wales felt “excluded and ignored” by the government, Mr Thomas claimed the controlling Labour group had taken great steps to avoid scrutiny.

Pontypridd AM Mike Antoniw has been appointed to Ms Rathbone’s former position.

The Welsh Labour Party failed to respond to requests for comment.