Kirsty Williams pressed Carwyn Jones in First Minister’s Questions yesterday to use the last opportunity available to amend the Welsh Language Measure to deliver Welsh official status, a goal long sought by Welsh language campaigners.
She said: “Welsh Liberal Democrats are tabling amendments to the Welsh language Measure that will ensure Welsh is given an unconditional declaration of official status.
“Today, I asked the First Minister if Labour and Plaid Cymru Ministers will work with the Welsh Liberal Democrats to agree amendments that will put right the wrong done to the Welsh language over the past centuries.
“Despite all the talk over the years and decades, you would scarcely credit it that it is a Plaid Cymru minister that has made such a dog’s dinner of the Welsh Language Measure and we could actually end up with a worse situation that we currently have. I urge the Government, even at this late stage, to listen to the campaigners and give Welsh official language status, as they promised they would in the Labour-Plaid coalition agreement.”
The Welsh Liberal Democrats will be submitting amendments on the following topics:
• Official Status: The measure is very complex. It sets out several areas where the official status of the language is guaranteed. Nevertheless, we believe that there is a danger in this approach. By setting out in such detail the circumstances in which Welsh is equal, it inevitably implies that anything not included on the list does not have equal status. Our amendment is simple and clear. It is directly based on the committee’s report and previous work, including a specific proposed amendment. We believe that the inclusion of a clear, unambiguous statement of official status is an important symbolic action. Without that, the whole proposed Measure is undermined.
• The Advisory Panel: The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that the advisory panel should be representative of Wales and therefore larger than the measure allows.
• Commissioner’s Budget: Welsh Liberal Democrat amendments will allow greater scrutiny of the budget by the Assembly.
• Consultation: Welsh Liberal Democrat amendments will mean that the Minister cannot impose standards on the Commissioner without consultation. It is a principle of the Welsh Liberal Democrat amendments that the Commissioner should be arms length from the Minister, in order to ensure the Commissioner’s independence.
• Compensation: Welsh Liberal Democrat amendments will allow recompense for people who are punished financially by the failure of an organisation to comply with a standard.
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Yes, very good. As much as I support y Famiaith (and I have the documentary evidence to show it), I really don’t think this is the time to rekindle the language debate again. The more enlightened of us get on with life, are courteous to our monolingual naighbours, and try to bring a positive light to the Welsh tongue. When we need to be showing the rest of the world that Wales is really not a nation of second home-burning fools, I suggest we look at the economy first, the language second.
I was absolutely astounded at the First Minister’s reply yesterday, viz., “An unconditional declaration of official status leads to the legal conclusion, in my view, that Welsh can be used at all times, in all parts of Wales, in all circumstances. I do not think that that is a practical way of promoting the Welsh language.”
Frankly, Kirsty, I was surprised you didn’t expose this frightening perspective at the very heart of Welsh Labour: Carwyn doesn’t believe that we should be allowed to use our own language (his own language) at all times and in all circumstances within our own country (his own country)!
As a subpostmaster who had to close his office( without compensation) upon retirement as no-one was prepared to take it on, I can tell you that imposing a bilingual policy on a purely English speaking area was a significant cause of the problem. We were told that our future depended on promoting new (financial) products. Large window posters were provided to us to coincide with and reinforce TV advertising. Alas, in Wales we were obliged to display bilingual posters where everything was stated twice but in much smaller type so most of the impact was lost. In thirty years I was only asked for a leaflet in Welsh once. Disposing of all those unwanted forms and leaflets was a major problem. Frankly, the whole language issue reminds me of the emperor’s suit of clothes.
As a retired UK Government Technical HPTO man born in Wales in 1932, I have spent over 50 years in all UK Govt Departments and overseas areas and I know that the Welsh Language Is not urgently needed today – as we all can speak English in Wales and UK I hope!!
WE DO NOT NEED TWO GOVERNMENTS OR TWO LANGUAGES FOR WALES. SO WE MUST CUT THE COSTS ASAP OR DIE…..
So Why Waste £Millions of good money this way – at very serious and costly time in UK , to back up more WAG WELSH Translators,and WELSH Lawyers at very high costs in all the many piles of printing work for all Industry, and Tourism and the WAG,etc.. And in all the UK Government DEPT contacts in the UK and the EC,etc – with more daily new and old Legal Administrsation and all the other wider needs – if a Yes Vote” goes ahead!!!!!
And with so so many UK GOVT CUTS to come in in the next ten years for all areas of Wales and all UK, and more Taxation of all kinds. the Welsh Language must not be tied to the YES vote or any other at this time!! S4C and others have made a mess of that for a very long time………With more piles of our money via the BBC very soon…….
The Welsh Language
AND Business in the next next few years