JOURNALIST Carole Cadwalladr who has dedicated herself to exposing the money behind the Brexit will give the Hay Festival Lecture in the Senedd building in Cardiff,

The home of the Welsh democracy is hosting the GWLAD: Future Wales Festival this month and the award-winning investigative journalist will give the Hay Festival Lecture on Sunday, September 29 at 2pm.

The invitation has already angered former Welsh Assembly Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies.The AM said the event should also include a prominent "pro-Brexit" journalist.Mr Davies blasted: "I have nothing against Ms Cadwalladr but she certainly doesn’t speak for me nor many others in Wales, and her anti-Brexit motivations are clear to all concerned.“I feel very uncomfortable if taxpayers’ money is to be used in any way, shape or form, to host such an event without an opposing view and we therefore need to know who made this decision and at what cost to the taxpayer, if any, is this event being held? And why for example no prominent Brexit-supporting journalists appear to have been invited to share the platform?“It’s vitally important for democracy in Wales that the Assembly is seen to be politically impartial and does not act as a mouthpiece for the remain establishment of Labour and Plaid Cymru, particularly as the people of Wales voted to leave the European Union.”

Carole Cadwalladr is a features writer for the Observer and previously worked for The Daily Telegraph. She rose to prominence in 2018 for uncovering the Facebook/Cambridge Analytics data scandal, the story of which has since been documented in the Netflix series, The Great Hack, and has delivered several TED talks on the subject.

She grew up in Cardiff, where she attended Radyr Comprehensive School, before studying in Hertford College at Oxford University. At this year’s Hay Festival in May she was also awarded the 2019 Hay Festival Medal of Journalism. It adds to her growing collection of accolades which also includes the prestigious Orwell Prize and the Reporters Without Borders Award.

GWLAD: Future Wales Festival is held on September 25-29 and aims to spark a conversation about the future of Wales from the perspective of a wide range of topics; from journalism and the media, to culture, sport, equality and diversity, politics and language. Containing ‘in conversation’ and debate session, speeches, comedy, music and art, GWLAD is held as part of a programme of events to mark 20 years of devolution. Free tickets are available to order, on the website www.devolution20.wales/gwlad Some sessions will be recorded for viewing online.

Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, said: "Carole Cadwalladr won the 2019 Hay Festival Medal for Journalism for her heroic attention to the abuses of democracy. She’s a guardian of good faith and vigilance, of the fundamental press freedoms in a modern state, and of the need to hold all our systems of governance to account. We are thrilled to hear her 20th anniversary lecture."

In the GWLAD schedule, the role of journalists and journalism will come under the spotlight in several sessions. They include a discussion on the future of journalism by posing the question ‘Do We Need Journalists?’, with Channel 4 News correspondent Ciaran Jenkins, Seren Jones of BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4, and BBC Newsbeat’s Steffan Powell.

Other sessions will explore Fake News Media with former journalist Guto Harri, Ruth Mosalski, Political Editor at Media Wales, Professor Laura McAllister from the Wales Governance Centre, James Williams, BBC Political Correspondent and Fay Jones of Public Affairs Cymru.

The entire festival schedule and free tickets are available online at: www.devolution20.wales/gwlad.