§ 5. Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will now give a date for the introduction of legislation affecting the legal and official status of the Welsh language.
§ Mr. Cledwyn HughesI cannot add to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardigan (Mr. Elystan Morgan) on 22nd March, 1967.—[Vol. 743; c. 291.]
§ Mr. EvansIs the Secretary of State aware that there is grave disquiet about this long malingering of the Government on this matter and that young people are being sent to prison because of their efforts to get a reasonable status for the Welsh language? Does not he realise that the additional cost of publishing bilingual official forms would be less than the possible amount spent by the Government to build one new public house for Whitbreads in Swansea?
§ Mr. HughesThe overwhelming majority of the people of Wales are aware that work is proceeding on this Bill as quickly as possible and are anxious that it should be carried out within a reasonable time—and it will be. The preliminary work on the Bill has been concluded, as have the consultations. It is now in the hands of the Parliamentary draftsman and I am anxious that it should be introduced as quickly as possible. I cannot see the relevance of the public house to which the hon. Gentleman referred. His information on that is better than mine.
Mr. Alan WilliamsWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the policy followed by the Government in this respect is far more acceptable to the people of Wales than the policy proposed by the hon. Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Gwynfor Evans), who seems to think that only Welsh speakers should get Government jobs in Wales?
§ Mr. HughesI am sure that the policy of the Government will be acceptable to all the people of Wales, both those who speak Welsh and those who, by accident of birth, do not.