So another week passes in the exciting world of Welsh politics. So what has happened that so animates the masses? What event has awakened the interest of the nation and has caused such fierce debate around countless half-empty beer glasses in thousands of pubs up and down the land? Well? What?
Nothing of course.
Therein lays the problem for the Welsh people. So long as they have a glorified county borough council sitting in a poor quality hole in a rather pretentious and already decrepit-looking Cardiff Bay, nothing will ever happen to convince the Welsh people that their £50,000-a-year AMs are providing anything like value for hard-earned money. Naturally there is some relief to be had from the fact that we are no longer governed in a rather cavalier fashion by that colonial administration known as the Welsh Office. After all, we now enjoy the opinion of (supposedly) accountable individuals who preside over the mundane level of government the Assembly represents.
Mundane?! Let the cry go up! Mundane indeed! What of the free bus passes for the elderly?! What of the free school breakfasts for our dear darling ever-spoilt children?! What of the end to prescription charges?! What of them?! True enough, these are no doubt worthwhile introductions. I simply fail to see why it took 60 AMs on vast salaries with umpteen minions apiece to bring into effect these lovely thoughts. Surely a request from one senior civil servant to a slightly less senior civil servant to sort out this good idea he/she/it had while sitting in the bath the other night would have been sufficient? But then if this is all the Welsh Assembly has the power to do, the poor dabs could be forgiven for trying to talk it up.
For my part, I can’t see a load of cross-looking Saxons sitting on Offa’s Dyke looking covetously across the border. As much as it would upset many Welsh people to know it, our beloved neighbours really have got more important things to do, and more important decisions to make. I only wish the same could be said for those idle mouths down in oh-so-fashionable Cardiff Bay, who enjoy the salaries and the comfortable surroundings of an important governing body worthy of comparable respect, but not the will, the courage, or the authority.
PS: For those of you expecting great things from the new Government of Wales Act, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Tuesday 20 February 2007
Saturday 10 February 2007
We all love the language
Wales has a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the Welsh language, as for centuries it was the only truly national entity in Wales that preserved our identity and thereby our nation. When all that was so very British was busily grinding down or shipping out anything that was of worth, the language, and whatever consequent identity it could produce, proved to be a valuable bank of Welsh heritage and culture.
This is perhaps why many within and without our nation really don’t like it. While the stench of decaying imperialism can still pervade the corridors of various government departments in London (and probably the conversation around the odd dinner table too), we in Wales also have to contend with those within our nation who attempt to ingratiate themselves with the British by being a hindrance to the Welsh. For that reason we were treated last Wednesday morning to the sight of Cymdeithas yr Iaith demonstrating in favour of a new language act, while the (supposedly Welsh) Labour government in turn repeated their opposition to granting the Welsh language anything more than token rights. That the two other British parties in the assembly joined Cymdeithas outside the assembly just goes to show that giving the Welsh people the right to use their own language in their own country may not be such a silly idea after all…
Of course, if the Welsh language survives as a cohesive and established community language, the sense of Welsh identity will also survive, and may intensify into nationalism. This probably goes some way to explaining why the Labour Assembly Government has done practically nothing to sustain the language in it’s heartlands. The last census showed another disastrous drop in the percentage of Welsh speakers in the ‘Fro Gymraeg’, and yet this has gone largely unremarked upon, and very little has been done officially to prevent further crippling losses. Indeed, from the point of view of the self-interested politician and the British nationalist, the destructive processes currently working on the Welsh language should be left to get on with it.
This is perhaps why many within and without our nation really don’t like it. While the stench of decaying imperialism can still pervade the corridors of various government departments in London (and probably the conversation around the odd dinner table too), we in Wales also have to contend with those within our nation who attempt to ingratiate themselves with the British by being a hindrance to the Welsh. For that reason we were treated last Wednesday morning to the sight of Cymdeithas yr Iaith demonstrating in favour of a new language act, while the (supposedly Welsh) Labour government in turn repeated their opposition to granting the Welsh language anything more than token rights. That the two other British parties in the assembly joined Cymdeithas outside the assembly just goes to show that giving the Welsh people the right to use their own language in their own country may not be such a silly idea after all…
Of course, if the Welsh language survives as a cohesive and established community language, the sense of Welsh identity will also survive, and may intensify into nationalism. This probably goes some way to explaining why the Labour Assembly Government has done practically nothing to sustain the language in it’s heartlands. The last census showed another disastrous drop in the percentage of Welsh speakers in the ‘Fro Gymraeg’, and yet this has gone largely unremarked upon, and very little has been done officially to prevent further crippling losses. Indeed, from the point of view of the self-interested politician and the British nationalist, the destructive processes currently working on the Welsh language should be left to get on with it.
Friday 9 February 2007
Phone a Friend?
Last Thursday evening I was just settling down with mug of tea and a biscuit in front of that gem of modern political commentary that is ‘Dragon’s Eye’, ready for more cosy reassurances regarding the Welsh political world before I went to bed, when I was for the second time in living memory treated to another upsetting performance by the self-appointed Party of Wales.
While time and space do not permit a full narrative of what I and thousands of others witnessed that chilly evening, suffice to say I did not enjoy an easy sleep that night.
If the collection of wise neo-Socialists who run the Nationalist party of Wales (does this make then National-Socialists?) assume an innate desire for the furtherance of Welsh nationhood, surely any opportunity to put forward the case for INDEPENDENCE would then be grabbed with open arms. Instead we are treated to the sight of a Plaid candidate for the forthcoming elections (and one who will almost certainly win her seat, unless of course Plaid perform really miserably…) phoning a friend to establish exactly what should be said in the event of being asked about, well, Welsh national freedom/self-government/full national status/self determination/independence. Meanwhile, a popular musician with little or no involvement in Welsh politics passed a delightful interview with a nice man from the BBC explaining without any hesitation why he felt entirely comfortable with Welsh independence and didn’t need to a: break out in a sweat b: lie or c: panic when proclaiming his belief to anyone who would listen
If the most nationalist party in Wales lacks the absolute and invulnerable commitment to independence that would allow it to, amongst other things, conduct an interview on the matter without fleeing to the nearest phone for instructions, then one could be forgiven for asking what hope do the Welsh people and their nation have?
While time and space do not permit a full narrative of what I and thousands of others witnessed that chilly evening, suffice to say I did not enjoy an easy sleep that night.
If the collection of wise neo-Socialists who run the Nationalist party of Wales (does this make then National-Socialists?) assume an innate desire for the furtherance of Welsh nationhood, surely any opportunity to put forward the case for INDEPENDENCE would then be grabbed with open arms. Instead we are treated to the sight of a Plaid candidate for the forthcoming elections (and one who will almost certainly win her seat, unless of course Plaid perform really miserably…) phoning a friend to establish exactly what should be said in the event of being asked about, well, Welsh national freedom/self-government/full national status/self determination/independence. Meanwhile, a popular musician with little or no involvement in Welsh politics passed a delightful interview with a nice man from the BBC explaining without any hesitation why he felt entirely comfortable with Welsh independence and didn’t need to a: break out in a sweat b: lie or c: panic when proclaiming his belief to anyone who would listen
If the most nationalist party in Wales lacks the absolute and invulnerable commitment to independence that would allow it to, amongst other things, conduct an interview on the matter without fleeing to the nearest phone for instructions, then one could be forgiven for asking what hope do the Welsh people and their nation have?
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