§ Mr. Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what UK regional or minority languages the Government recognises in relation to the recent UK signing of the Council of Europe Charter on Regional or Minority Languages. [115997]
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§ Mr. VazThe UK will apply the general provisions of the Charter in respect of all the languages which meet the Charter's definition of a regional or minority language. The Government recognise that this definition embraces Scots and Ulster-Scots and are considering what other languages, including Cornish, also meet the definition. To fulfil the Charter's requirement to implement specific provisions to promote the use of certain languages in public life, the Government intend to specify Welsh, Scots-Gaelic and Irish.