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Controversial AM Neil McEvoy has been expelled from the Plaid Cymru group at the National Assembly.

The party issued a statement which said his behaviour had left colleagues feeling “undermined and demoralised” and that ongoing issues were distracting Plaid Cymru AMs from getting on with their work of serving the people of Wales and holding the Labour government to account.

A Plaid Assembly group spokesman said: “The group has taken the decision to permanently expel Neil McEvoy from the group. The decision was unanimous.

“A statement issued by Neil McEvoy today is full of errors. Firstly it makes inaccurate claims about the reasons for his suspension from the Assembly group.

“As was stated at the time, Neil McEvoy was suspended for breaching standing orders and the group’s code of conduct through unacceptable behaviour.

“Secondly, Neil McEvoy’s public statement this morning saw him once again peddle untruths about the way in which the Plaid Cymru Assembly group operates. Such comments only serve to smear the reputation of colleagues and underline the insincerity of Mr McEvoy’s alleged desire to return to the group.

“In this context, Mr McEvoy is being expelled due to an irrevocable breakdown of trust.

“His ongoing behaviour has left Assembly Member colleagues feeling undermined and demoralised.

“Plaid Cymru representatives’ loyalty first and foremost is to the people of Wales. We will not be distracted from our work of serving them to the best of our ability by such deliberate and sustained sabotage.”

Earlier Mr McEvoy had issued a statement in which he said he hoped to appeal against his suspension by the group in March.

A party spokeswoman confirmed Mr McEvoy would be able to appeal against his expulsion from the group to Plaid’s national executive committee.

Mr McEvoy was elected to the Assembly in 2016 as a regional AM for South Wales Central.

He is also a Plaid councillor on Cardiff council, where he leads a three-member group.

Last year he was suspended from the council for a month after a panel found him guilty of bullying a council employee by making a comment to her after a court case in which he represented a female constituent who was being evicted from her home.

Following the announcement Mr McEvoy said he took the group's decision “with real regret”.

“I was elected to be a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member after votes from thousands of people who wanted me to not do politics as usual.

“My focus has always been on holding the Labour government to account and it will continue to be so. I’ve never been interested in fighting with my own colleagues,” he said.

He added: “I’ll keep representing those people who have been left behind and given up on politicians.

“We’re not all the same. There are people who really care. I grew up on an estate in Cardiff and I made it to the Assembly. I hope that inspires people to know that anything is possible.

“Politics is about ideas but it’s also about personalities. We don’t always get along but there is always the bigger picture.

“Wales is a great country. It needs a great government and I’m going to keep doing all I can to make sure we get one.”