Welsh Language (Hansard, 25 April 1988)

§ 6. Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to be able to announce a decision on his plans for new Welsh language legislation; and if he will make a statement.

§ The Minister of State, Welsh Office (Mr. Wyn Roberts)
My right hon. Friend and I are now considering measures to promote and protect the Welsh language, details of which will be announced shortly.

§ Mr. Wigley
Will the Minister tell the House why, following their consultation, which concluded on 31 March 1987, on the draft Bill that was proposed by Lord Prys-Davies in another place, and by myself here, the Government have still not published the detailed representations that they received? They have not even shown the balance of opinion in favour or against the new legislation. As they have held the consultations, is it not high time that the results of those consultations were made public?

§ Mr. Roberts
We have made known the results of that consultation. They were inconclusive, as the hon. Gentleman knows. That is why my right hon. Friend set up a group under my chairmanship. It has met three times and has given constructive thought to the problem. My right hon. Friend has also met representatives of various Welsh language bodies. We shall publish the representations that were made during the consultation. We shall certainly make them available after we have finished working with them.

§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett
Those of us who support the view that the Welsh language and culture should be encouraged in every way are worried about the 7 law-breaking activities of some members of the Welsh Language Society. Does my hon. Friend agree that they do nothing to help the advancement of Welsh in Wales?

§ Mr. Roberts
Law-breaking activities by members of the Welsh Language Society, or any other body, are counter-productive., Law-breaking activities only create antipathy and diminish the goodwill that exists in Wales towards the language.

§ Mr. Heffer
As somebody who studied the Welsh language during the evening at the Liverpool university extra-mural classes and as a member of the Welsh Labour History Society, may I ask the hon. Gentleman what efforts are being made to encourage the study of the Welsh language in the rest of the United Kingdom, particularly in England?

§ Mr. Roberts
We certainly encourage people from England to visit Wales. We extend a warm croeso to them when they visit Wales. It is a fact that among the most ardent Welsh learners these days are people from England who have come to settle in Wales.

§ Mr. Butler
Will my hon. Friend tell me whether among the proposals that he is considering there is a suggestion that parents should have a statutory right to have their children educated through the medium of Welsh, should they so choose?

§ Mr. Roberts
I am not prepared to comment on the details of the proposals that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I are considering. I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware of the new place given to the Welsh language in the national curriculum and of the steps that we are taking by the establishment of a Welsh language subject group. We announced the name of the chairman last week and we shall be announcing the membership shortly. There will also be a curriculum council for Wales. Welsh will be a foundation subject, which means that it will be available to all children in all parts of Wales, except where my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State grants an exception.

§ Mr. Flynn
The survival of the Welsh language is a continuing miracle. It is a great treasure that we all hold in trust. It is also the most dangerously divisive and explosive issue in Wales. The window of opportunity for legislation is now wide open. This year, for the first time this century, the National Eisteddfod is coming to the most Anglicised part of Wales—Newport. This would have been inconceivable 21 years ago, which was the last time that the House legislated on the language. We must now seize the opportunity which is provided by the evidence of goodwill towards the language from all parties and areas of Wales. Will the Minister assure us that the Government will not delay until they are pressured into action, as they were on the fourth channel? They should build now on the burgeoning, but perhaps fragile, goodwill towards the language by acting swiftly to secure the health and survival of yr hen iqith.

§ Mr. Roberts
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the Opposition Front Bench, and I welcome also his tour de force in favour of the Welsh language. He referred to legislation and, of course, it is easy to cry for a Welsh language Act. It is not so easy to say what might or should go into it. As the hon. Gentleman appears to be committing the Labour party to legislating—I hasten to 8 add that there is no commitment on the Government side —perhaps he will let us know what the content of any Bill might be.