Criticism of Welsh Language Proposals

My first post on this blog, over a month ago, detailed how there are proposals in Wales for laws that would require certain sectors to have to produce their literature and provide services in the Welsh language, as well as English. These proposals have recently come in for criticism from a group of organisations.

A group of 14 bodies, which includes Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (UCAC, the Welsh teachers’ union), Friends of the Earth and language specialist Professor Colin Williams have penned an open letter to Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones calling for the new proposals to be amended. Specifically, they say it does not include linguistic rights and nor does it propose for Welsh to become an official language.

The letter includes the following statements "The language is facing threats from many directions: cuts in S4C's budget, the Assembly scrapping its bilingual record of proceedings, and the future of Welsh-medium education in the capital city. The lack of linguistic rights to, and official status for, Welsh, are central to these challenges."

"We welcome the Government's efforts to develop legislation to affirm the Welsh language's situation. However, since the publication of the draft Welsh Language Measure organisations, lawyers and specialists have been unanimous in their view that the Measure in its present form does not fulfil the Government's promises."

"....we want to see an unambiguous statement that the Welsh language is an official language in Wales, a statement never before included in previous legislation. Now is the time to take that step."

"The evidence shows that linguistic rights, official status and an independent Commissioner would improve services through the medium of Welsh for our members across Wales. These are the amendments that we would like you, as Minister, to table to the Welsh Language Measure."

Indeed these proposals were just that, a draft, and so some criticism was inevitable and even expected. Calling for these changes to the proposals will lead to a resolution that all parties are satisfied with, in theory.

This is one of the most involved measures that the Welsh Assembly has yet been involved in and the way in which they deal with it could be critical for future public relations and outcomes of further proposals, whether they involve the Welsh language or another topic.