HC Deb 18 March 1996 vol 274 cc10-1
9. Mr. Mackinlay

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to promote interest in the culture and nation of Wales amongst the Welsh diaspora. [19381]

Mr. Richards

The Welsh Office continues to support the National Eisteddfod, which remains for Welsh people throughout the world the principal focus for Welsh language and culture.

We are considering what assistance might now be provided for the teaching of Welsh to young people in the Welsh community in Patagonia.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for National Heritage is providing £63.8 million in funding this year for S4C. The channel produces high-quality Welsh programmes which are seen throughout the world.

Mr. Mackinlay

Is there not a strong case for the Secretary of State for Wales to get together with his counterparts from Northern Ireland and Scotland to emphasise throughout the world that the United Kingdom is not England and the occupants of these islands are not necessarily English? Do we not need to promote much more the common Celtic heritage of these islands, abroad and in the United Kingdom?

We want fewer children from England taking ski trips in Europe and more visiting the beautiful mountains, hills and valleys of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. We should promote places such as Stout Hall in the Gower peninsula, which is rich in value for schoolchildren on field trips. There is much more to be done in promoting our Celtic heritage in the United States and Australia, to bring visitors here and to stop the gravitational pull to the south-east of England and London.

Mr. Richards

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that all of us in Wales who wish Wales to be promoted throughout the world are doing all we can to ensure that people do visit Wales, and I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Wales tourist board promotes Wales abroad very effectively.

Mr. Sykes

Will my hon. Friend ignore the hon. Member for Thurrock (Mr. Mackinlay)? Is it not strange that the hon. Gentleman mentioned the fact that the Welsh are famous abroad but not the fact that the Koreans are coming, with perhaps £1 billion of investment in Wales? Does that not tell us all that we need to know about Wales, and about the social chapter and the minimum wage?

Mr. Richards

My hon. Friend is right. Wales's record in attracting more inward investment per head of population than the rest of the United Kingdom is second to none. My hon. Friend is also correct in identifying some factors that make Wales so attractive—the absence of the social chapter and the absence of a minimum wage. Another factor is the reform of working practices of trade unions throughout the 1980s, which made the Welsh work force so flexible and attractive to inward investors.

Mr. Wigley

Does the Minister accept that one of the best flag-carriers of Welsh culture of the highest standard throughout the world is the Welsh National Opera Company, whose future in Wales is now being undermined by the machinations of Cardiff bay, by the opposition of South Glamorgan and by the inability of the Welsh Office to get off its backside and do anything to safeguard its future? If the opera company moves to Birmingham or Bristol, how will the Welsh Office feel about that, and what does that say about safeguarding the excellence of musical heritage in Wales, not only in opera, but in all the performing arts?

Mr. Richards

The hon. Gentleman is correct. The Welsh National Opera Company is highly acclaimed throughout the world and I am sure that the Arts Council will be well aware of what the hon. Gentleman said about the company's future.