[Here is the speech to the 2006 Annual Conference in which Aran Jones, Cymuned's Chief Executive, gives his Annual Report.]

To begin, I would like to echo the words of the Pwyllgor Gwaith’s Chairman, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here today. It is very easy to forget about the work of the movement when we don’t get coverage in the press, and it is very easy to expect someone else to do the work that is needed – but you have made the effort to be here today, and by doing so have given support and credibility to the new Pwyllgor Gwaith, and credibility to our work. Without your presence here today, it would not be possible for the movement to continue, because it would not be possible for us to claim that our fears and concerns are shared by other people. As the Irishman Edmund Burke said, ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.’

Thank you for doing something. Thank you for being here today.

As Richard said earlier, it has been a very, very busy year (or ten months!). Sometimes it has felt as though we haven’t even had the time to breathe! It all began with the Marina campaign, winning which gave us such a boost, and since then we have been working to build on that momentum. It would take a book to talk about everything that’s happened, but here is a report of the key points.

Soon after the Marina came the Eisteddfod, and as Richard said, it was extremely successful for us – far more than we had expected. And straight after the Eisteddfod, of course, I escaped for three weeks in order to try and persuade my new wife that I really did have enough spare time for our marriage – fortunately, she still believes that… more or less!

I came back from our honeymoon to a fairly quiet time in the press, but it was nonetheless remarkably busy behind the scenes. In co-operation with the Pwyllgor Gwaith, a number of websites were build to target new members, and a weekly email was set up to offer our news to everyone who was interested. YnyFro.com, Saesneg.com, NotEnglish.com, DeadWelsh.com, NotLikeUs.com and WalesNeedsYou.com all targeted different kinds of people, and every single one of them has successfully drawn new members into the movement. We went down to Cardiff to launch NotEnglish.com with a large banner in the middle of the city on the day of the Cymru-New Zealand rugby match, and the response was startlingly good – people laughing, rows of people wanting to have their pictures taken in front of the banner, including plenty of English people. The element of leg-pulling to NotEnglish.com clearly works extremely well.

Then, we began offering free stickers to promote the websites and through this drew in over 50 new volunteers, many of them non-Welsh speakers. By now, over 500 receive our weekly email, new people continue to volunteer to put up stickers, and the effect of all this is only going to increase over the next year or two.

We have continued to produce our monthly newsletter ‘Newyddion y Fro’, something which we see as being vitally important in making sure that members of Cymuned know exactly what’s going on even when the press don’t pay attention.

‘Newyddion y Fro’ will be developing further over the coming months, with new contributors having agreed to write for us on a regular basis, including a Brussels-based journalist who will be looking at some of the other minority languages on the continent. We will also have other contributors from around Cymru who can give a clear picture of what is happening, and what answers we are offering, as well as a humorous column to give everyone a well-earned break!

With regards to the newsletter, I would like to ask everyone here today to consider contributing 500 words a month. Looking around, and knowing many of you, I know that there is without doubt the raw material for an outstandingly interesting newsletter sitting in this hall right now. If we could work with each other, and make something of real worth, we would once again be able to consider selling the newsletter, which we have always wanted to do.

So, that’s the work which has been happening behind the scenes – but it hasn’t all been quiet, internal work, by any stretch of the imagination!

We have continued to develop our important relationship with the Commission for Racial Equality, organising a public consultancy session for their proposed housing policy, and receiving an invitation to be part of their largest project ever in Cymru, the ‘Croeso’ project, which emphasises the need for local people to be welcoming and for incomers to make the effort to integrate. We are working towards a public statement from the Commission to support language conditions as part of affordable housing developments, a statement which will, when it comes, be of enormous importance. I spoke on behalf of Cymuned as part of the Commission’s panel in the project’s public meeting in Caernarfon, and we are starting to see the benefits of this relationship – when the news came that our caravan near Griffiths Crossing, with the innocuous words ‘Speak Our Language’ on it, had been burnt to the ground in an arson attack, Chris Myant, Director of the Commission, agreed to make a statement to the press condemning the attack. We can now declare confidently that it is no longer possible for anyone to dare to make public accusations of racism against us, without looking extremely stupid.

We have also been working to draw attention to individual cases of injustice, such as the case of the Dolgellau farmer who has been forced to stop using land that his family have farmed for over half a century, and the situation where a member of Cymuned suffered violent attacks against his home for speaking out in favour of the Welsh language in Mynydd Llandegai, as you will here later on. We have also responded to the claims that the Prime Minister swore about the Welsh, a case which has been mentioned on page 4 of the London newspaper the Times within the last week. As the attack on our caravan shows clearly, comments which help create this kind of atmosphere of hostility towards the Welsh are in no way acceptable.

Three members of Cymuned, Llion Jones, Seimon Brooks and I went to Basque Country in order to continue to develop an exciting relationship with linguistic campaign groups in that country and in Catalonia and Galicia also, and in order to make a start on the work of building an umbrella group to speak on behalf of language pressure groups on a European level. We have agreed to set up exchange visits between language activists in Cymru and Basque Country, and if any of you would be willing to offer hospitality to visitors from Basque Country, particularly those who have suffered deeply under the oppression of the Spanish state, please let us know, and we will add your names to the list.

We have campaigned strongly against the plans to grant extended planning permission to the new ASDA branch in Pwllheli, and after the extremely disappointing decision by the local councillors to grant the extension (in the face of a public meeting where over a hundred local people were against it), we have begun the work of developing a Cymuned Business Network to try and help to withstand the damaging side-effects the shop will have for local businesses. We have based many of our ideas for the Business Network on examples of networks which have succeeded in regenerating local high streets in England and in Scotland, and we are working hard to attract enough members to make the network a success. We have received the first standing orders, and are hoping to launch the network in the near future.

We have given evidence to the European Council’s Panel of Experts in Cardiff with regards to the Westminster Government’s responsibilities under the Charter for Minority and Regional Languages, and have also presented written evidence to the Panel. The Panel said that our presentation, in co-operation with the Mentrau Iaith, was one of the most useful presentations they had received.

Recently, we have been discussing the proposed plan to unify the Welsh police forces with Heddlu Gogledd Cymru, noting the very real danger that this will undermine a great deal of the very important work that has been done by Heddlu Gogledd Cymru to normalise and promote use of Welsh within the police. We will respond formally to the consultation process with is happening currently, noting our fears and our support for the successful work that has been done by Heddlu Gogledd Cymru.

We have held a meeting with Alun Pugh and feel that a potentially interesting relationship is developing there. One or two members have written to us worrying that we might swallow every political promise rather too easily, so I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that we are not quite as innocent as that! Our aim is to draw the Minister’s attention to the importance of our Welsh-speaking communities, and to some of our specific ideas for improving their situation. We are also emphasising the need for the new branches of the Assembly, in Aberystwyth and Llandudno, to operate internally through the medium of Welsh. This looks like a more difficult challenge, but we will not give in easily.

We have presented an argument to theAssembly’s Regional Committee for North Wales in favour of following the example of the Yorkshire Dales National Park by permitting new housing developments for local need only. We are suggesting that such a policy would not only be extremely popular in Gwynedd, but throughout the whole of Cymru, and given that the Labour Party in Westminster have warmly supported the policy in Yorkshire, it would be very hard for them to argue against it in Cymru.

Last week, we launched the latest booklet by Cymuned, ‘Cymricising the Council – Gwynedd’s Lessons and Ceredigion’s Future’. I see this, along with the previous point about new housing for locals only, as being in many ways the two most important events for us this year. I’ll talk about why a little later on, but it is worth noting here that the Chair for the Ceredigion Regional Committee of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, as well as a current member of Plaid Cymru’s executive committee, spoke in the launch, and it is looking increasingly likely that the campaign to increase the internal useage of Welsh in the council will be a very popular one in Ceredigion – Councillor Dai Lloyd Evans, the leader of the Council, and ex-MP for Ceredigion Cynog Dafis have already agreed to hold meetings with us on this subject.

Right – I think I’ve touched on everything of importance. Sometimes, so much is happening in the office that I feel as though I must have forgotten something! But I must warn you – you haven’t heard the last of my voice today. Having now reported on the work that has been done in the last year, I will be back later on to present the Pwyllgor Gwaith’s strategy for the year to come. As you will see in your copies of the Conference Agenda, there will be a chance for you to discuss the strategy offering after lunch, before we vote formally on its contents in the session dealing with today’s motions. The Pwyllgor Gwaith has worked hard to develop a strategy about which I personally feel very excited, and I’m very hopeful that you will share my enthusiasm once you have heard the proposed strategy – but it is important to remember that you, here, today, are the chief authority of this movement, and it is you who will make the final decision on the strategy that the Pwyllgor Gwaith is presenting.

[To read the strategy presentation for 2006/7, please click here.]

[Here is the speech to the 2006 Annual Conference by Richard Evans, Chair of Cymuned's Pwyllgor Gwaith.]

First of all, many thanks to you all for being here today – your presence is of vital importance to the movement, because without you here today, it would be impossible for us to win the attention of the press or of our politicians, or to claim that we are expressing genuine fears shared by other people. Thank you for coming – and next year, how about each of you bringing one person extra with you?!

This last year has been challenging, colourful and very interesting. No, we can’t state that Cymuned, as a political force, is back where we were in 2001/2, but we believe sincerely that we are on the way. The Pwyllgor Gwaith is very confident that the vision for the year to come which will be presented to you in a short while by the Chief Executive is exciting, practical and deserving of your fullest support.

But let me go into a little more detail about this last year – or, to be precise, this last ten months, because we brought the Annual Conference forwards two months this year in line with the decision made at last year’s Conference. It has been a very busy ten months!

We stated in last year’s Conference that Cymuned would commit to compaigning against the proposal to extend the Marina in Pwllheli, and we were true to our word – within a few weeks, the discussion was boiling over in the press, and members of the Pwyllgor Gwaith had arranged a picket in the Marina itself to show our opposition. Many of you were there – and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that, for your courage and firm courtesy in the face of the verbal assaults, and the dangerously threatening behaviour of the tractors driven by some of the Marina yobs. It was an experience to shake anyone, in particular with older people and women and children forming part of the picket – but as we have been reminded once again by the arson attack on our caravan, we must not expect those who would like to see our language and our communities disappear to behave in a civilised manner.

The Marina plan was overturned, as many of you know, and the day in Caernarfon that the news came out of the council chambers was a particularly happy one. It was a victory for common sense, and a victory for those of us who still see the language as an important part of our economic development – and it was an important victory for Cymuned, too.

Shortly after the decision against the Marina, we had our most successful National Eisteddfod for a long time, selling over a thousand pounds’ worth of our CDs, and seeing an encouraging number of new people becoming members. That was the last step of the financial reorganisation of the movement, and the beginning of a period of extending our work once again.

Throughout all this, and other matters that you will hear more about them from the Chief Executive shortly, the Pwyllgor Gwaith was playing an important rôle of strategy development, supporting the Chief Executive in his work to win more members for the movement, and controlling the movement’s financial situation. I would like to thank Geraint Hughes very much indeed for his important work in fulfilling the duties of the Treasurer for the last two years, and for his report here today.

The fruits of our strategy development work will be presented to you later today by the Chief Executive, and we hope very much indeed that you will be in favour of what we are suggesting.

To close, I would like to extend the congratulations of the Pwyllgor Gwaith to the Chief Executive for reaching the last three in the Leading Wales Awards. We see his success as one of a number of signs which give us confidence that this next year will be a particularly successful one for Cymuned.

The anti-colonisation movement Cymuned will be giving a presentation to the Assembly Regional Committee in the Cricieth Memorial Hall tomorrow (Friday 24/03/06), where they will call on the Assembly to promote and support community land trusts and to encourage the county councils of Cymru to follow the Yorkshire National Park’s policy of permitting new housing developments for local people only.

‘There has to be a change in the planning system,’ says Aran Jones, Cymuned’s Chief Executive, ‘and as they’ve seen in the Yorkshire Dales, any development which isn’t for local people has a destructive effect on the local community. The Yorkshire National Park now only permit new developments which are for local people, and the Westminster Government has supported them in this. Don’t local people in Cymru deserve to have their communities defended in the same way?’

Cymuned believes that the Yorkshire National Park’s answer is fair and effective, allowing prospective inward-migrants to compete in the existing housing market while ensuring a local housing market based on local salaries.

‘Everybody accepts by now that we have a housing crisis,’ says Aran Jones, ‘and the people of Cymru are not somehow second-class – they deserve the same chances to stay in their own communities. It’s high time for the Assembly to prove that they are at least capable of keeping up with the work that is being done on behalf of local people in England.’

For more details, contact Cymuned’s office on 01758-612712.

The European Charter For Regional or Minority Languages

Visit by Council of Europe Committee of Experts to Wales

The response of the NGO Cymuned, 11 February 2003

The following comments have been prepared by Cymuned for the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts following their recent visit, on January 23 2003, to Wales.

They offer a response to obligations laid down by the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, and the United Kingdom’s Initial Periodic Report presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter.

The responses all pertain to the Welsh language.

Cymuned is a community-based pressure group that campaigns for the future of Welsh as a community language. Cymuned currently has 1,537 members – mainly in rural and semi-rural Welsh-speaking communities in north and west Wales – as of February 1 2003, and is a NGO that receives no funding nor support from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Cymuned is not commenting here upon all of the articles signed by the United Kingdom. This does not mean that Cymuned necessarily regards the measures taken by the United Kingdom concerning these articles as sufficient.

In many cases – the commitments to Article 8 in education, for example – we acknowledge that other organisations – Rhieni dros Addysg Gymraeg (Parents for Welsh-medium Education) in this case – are better placed than ourselves to provide a detailed policy response to these matters. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, which campaigns for a New Welsh Language Act, is best placed to provide a detailed
response regarding the issues raised in Article 10, on ‘Administrative authorities and public services’, although we have commented on paragraph 4b.

This response has been prepared on behalf of Cymuned by Dr. Jerry Hunter, a lecturer in Welsh at the University of Wales, Bangor and Dr. Simon Brooks, editor of the Welsh-language current affairs magazine Barn.

Our comments are below:

PART 1 – ARTICLE 1

In response to the question, “Please indicate all regional or minority languages, as defined in paragraph (a) of Article 1 of the Charter which exist on your State’s territory. Indicate also the parts of the territory of your country where the speakers of such language(s) reside”, the United Kingdom’s Initial Periodic Report says:
“There are Welsh speakers across the whole of Wales. The highest proportions of Welsh speakers are found in Gwynedd, the Isle of Anglesey and Ceredigion, where the proportion of speakers aged 3 or over is 74.3%, 62.6% and 60.9% respectively. The lowest concentrations of Welsh speakers are found in Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire, where the proportion of speakers is fewer than 7.5%. The percentage of Welsh speakers aged 3 or over in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, is 9% according to the Household Interview survey 1997. However, the numbers of speakers in low density speech areas may still be substantial. For example, according to the 1991 Census there were 17,171 Welsh speakers aged 3+ in the City of Cardiff.”

Cymuned would like to point out that the above response uses differing statistical sources, so that the figures for Gwynedd, Anglesey and Ceredigion appear to be based upon the 1991 Census, while the figures for Cardiff are based on a 1997 Household Interview survey.

More seriously, the UK’s response completely omits those parts of the State outside Wales where Welsh-speakers may reside. The UK has made no effort to collate any statistics regarding the number of Welsh speakers outside Wales.

In response to the question, “Please indicate the number of speakers for each regional or minority language. Specify the criteria for the definition of ‘speaker of regional or minority language’ that your country has retained for this purpose”, the United Kingdom has responded “Information from the Welsh House condition survey 1998 revealed that there are 570,000 Welsh speakers – 20.5% of the population aged three and over in Wales.”

This figure does not include Welsh-speakers residing outside Wales within the State and so underestimates to a considerable degree the number of Welsh speakers residing in the State.

Regarding the question, “Please indicate the measures taken (in accordance with Article 6 of the Charter) to make better known the rights and duties deriving from the application of the Charter”, Cymuned can confirm that the Welsh Language Board did not write to Cymuned advising us of the Charter.

The Welsh Language Board does not consult with language NGOs like Cymuned, and Cymuned would welcome a recommendation by the Committee of Experts requesting the Welsh Language Borad to write to us with details of their consultation documents, Board meetings, and other relevant material that is part of the policy-making process in Wales.

Part II – Article 7 – Objectives and Principles

1. In respect of regional or minority languages, within the territories in which such languages are used and according to the situation of each language, the Parties shall base their policies, legislation and practice on the following objectives and principles:

a. the recognition of the regional or minority languages as an expression of cultural wealth;

The activities of some members of the Welsh Assembly Government in London and Cardiff, assisted by some elements in the media, have been aimed at undermining the recognition of Welsh as an important expression of the cultural wealth of Welsh. See Appendix II.

b. the respect of the geographical area of each regional or minority language in order to ensure that existing or new administrative divisions do not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minority language in question;

The emphasis on the geographical area of the language given here is one of several examples found in the Charter where the geographical or communal aspect of the minority language’s existence is stressed. This very existence is being endangered by the government’s unwillingness to address problems associated with the housing crisis in rural Wales. See Appendix I.

Cymuned recognises that the Welsh language is the national language of the whole of Wales. But it is also important to recognise that those communities in which Welsh is the community language do not have any administrative recognition.

In many cases, communities in which Welsh is the community language are placed in council areas in which English is the dominant community language, even though they adjoin council areas in which Welsh is the dominant community language. Those councils where Welsh is the dominant community language – Gwynedd, for example – tend to have stronger language policies that those where Welshspeakers are in the minority.

Pembrokeshire County Council – where 19% of the population speak Welsh (all quoted figures, 1991 census) – contains a number of communities where Welsh is the community language (i.e. Crymych, 69%), and which adjoin with Ceredigion where 60% of the population speak Welsh. Powys – where 22% speak Welsh – contains a number of communities in the south-west and north-west of the county where Welsh is the community language (i.e. Cwm-twrch, 66% and Llanbrynmair, 69%), and which
adjoin with council areas (Carmarthenshire, 57% and Gwynedd, 73%) which have high Welsh-speaking populations. Conwy (32% speak Welsh) contains communities where up to 78% (Uwch Conwy) speak Welsh, and Denbighshire (29% speak Welsh) contains communities where up to 70% (Gwyddelwern) speak Welsh.

If these administrative borders remain unchanged, then certainly the Welsh Assembly Government should be asked to ensure that the above Councils take steps to ensure that language policies regarding their Welsh-speaking communities are strengthened.

c. the need for resolute action to promote regional or minority languages in order to safeguard them;

Given the size of the Welsh-speaking community in Wales, Cymuned does not believe that the action of the United Kingdom could be described as “resolute” when compared with linguistic minorities of similar size in other parts of Europe, such as Basque.

d. the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regional or minority languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life;

See also the commentary on Article 7, paragraph d, on page 11: “Furthermore, as stated in paragraph 1.d, this effort of promotion must include action in favor of the possibility to use regional or minority languages freely, both orally and in writing, not only in private life and in individual relations, but also in community life, that is to say within the framework of institutions, social activities and economic life.”

Because of the massive demographic shifts which are changing the linguistic character of traditionally Welsh-speaking communities, and because of the government’s flat refusal to address this situation, people are being denied the right to use their native language “freely … in community life” and “within the framework of institutions [e.g., schools and churches], social activities and economic life” within
their own communities.

e. The maintenance and development of links, in the fields covered by this Charter, between groups using a regional or minority language and other groups in the State employing a language used in identical or similar form, as well as the establishment of cultural relations with other groups in the State using different languages.

Welsh-speakers living outside Wales have no legal or educational rights, and receive no support to maintain their cultural and linguistic identity from bodies in England, bar the occassional night class to teach Welsh organised by local authorities. The visibility and support given to the Welsh-speaking minority in England is far lower than those of other minority language groups in England.

f. the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages;

g. the provision of facilities enabling non-speakers of a regional or minority language living in the area where it is used to learn it if they so desire;

The success rate regarding teaching Welsh to non-Welsh speakers who have moved into Welshspeaking communities is very, very low. For example: According to a study published in 2000, a pitiful 1.7% of the non-Welsh speaking population of the old county of Dyfed (rural and semi-rural, bilingual south-west region of Wales) were registered on Welsh courses.[i]

During that same year (2000) only 94 people were successful in Higher Level examinations for adults learning Welsh.[ii]

Moreover, the dropout rate for language courses is often calculated at 80%, sometimes as high as 90%.[iii]

In addition, Cymuned has conducted door-to-door canvassing and community surveys, and has found a great deal of non-Welsh speakers living in Welsh-speaking areas who said that they’d like to attend language course but that government-sponsored educational bodies have not provided courses which they can access. In some cases, Cymuned has stepped into the gap left by authorities and organized
informal classes at the community level.

Given the size of the Welsh-speaking minority, which is comparable to that of the Basque-speaking minority, Cymuned believes that a national body to co-ordinate Welsh for Adults, similar to the Basque HABE, should be established. This is particularly important given that up to 40% of the population in many parts of Welsh-speaking rural Wales are English-speaking in-migrants.

Providing a proper system by which these monoglot in-migrants can learn Welsh is important not only to language maintenance, but also to civic life, social inclusion and equality. The failure of the United Kingdom to properly fund Welsh-language classes for in-migrants to Welsh-speaking communities militates against both language groups in the bilingual community.

2. The Parties undertake to eliminate, if they have not yet done so, any unjustified distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference relating to the use of a regional or minority language and intended to discourage or endanger the maintenance or development of it. The adoption of special measures in favor of regional or minority languages aimed at promoting equality between the users of these languages and the rest of the population or which take due account of their specific conditions is not considered to be an act of discrimination against the users of more widely-used
languages.

Negative propaganda aimed at Welsh and Welsh speakers by some politicians and media figures is also relevant to this paragraph: some of this propaganda is designed specifically to make `the users of more widely-used languages’ (i.e., English) feel that they are being discriminated against. See Appendix II.

In strictly economic terms, statistics and research show that there is note ‘equality between the users [of Welsh]’ and the English-speaking population, and that existing patterns of employment and institutional structures ensure that there is often an ‘unjustified distinction’ in the workplace which favors English over Welsh.

Sociologists studying employment in Gwynedd have identified a language-based ‘cultural division of labour’; statistical evidence provided by these scholars shows that ‘[t]here is a heavy underrepresentation of Welsh-speakers in the top four official socio-economic groups’, and that English speakers are ‘over-represented’ in these top groups.[iv]

Cymuned believes that the sentence, “The adoption of special measures in favor of regional or minority languages aimed at promoting equality between the users of these languages and the rest of the population or which take due account of their specific conditions is not considered to be an act of discrimination against the users of more widely-used languages” is an important one.

Cymuned believes that the United Kingdom needs to be reminded of the important of this sentence, which permits affirmative action to secure equality in practice for minorities. It is an irony in Wales that political rhetoric, and policy initiative, surrounding the use of equality legislation is normally aimed at ‘defending’ the ‘rights’ of the majority against the minority. In effect, anti-Welsh rhetoric utilises equality legislation to bully the Welsh-speaking population, who represent only 1% of the UK
population.

Thus those who call for affirmative action for Welsh will be told by opinion-formers, the mass media and politicians that they are opposed to ‘human rights’ or ‘multiculturalism’ or are ‘racist’. The Housing Minister in the National Assembly of Wales, Peter Black, justifies the situation by which Welshspeakers have a disproportionatly low level of access to the housing stock in rural Welsh-speaking
communities, as compared to English-speakers, by statements that any affirmative action for local people would be discriminatory, racist and a breach of human rights.

3. The Parties undertake to promote, by appropriate measures, mutual understanding between all the linguistic groups of the country and in particular the inclusion of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to regional or minority languages among the objectives of education and training provided within their countries and encouragement of the mass media to pursue the sameobjective.

The commentary on Article 7, paragraph 3 found on page 13 reads: `Respect for regional or minority languages and the development of a spirit of tolerance towards them are part of a general concern to develop understanding for a situation of language plurality within a state. The development of this spirit of tolerance and receptiveness through the educational system and the media is an important factor in the practical preservation of regional or minority languages. The encouragement of the mass media to pursue such objectives is not considered to constitute illegitimate state influence….’

The material found in Appendix II is especially relevant here as well. Rather than fostering ‘a spirit of tolerance and receptiveness’ in the media, several members of the Governments in London and Cardiff have acted in collusion with elements in the tabloid press in fostering fear, hate and suspicion of the Welsh-speaking minority.

On 13 June 2001, the Education Committee of the National Assembly for Wales voted to delete from its minutes evidence given to it by an academic, Dafydd Glyn Jones, on 17 May 2001 calling for the establishment of a Welsh-medium University. Dafydd Glyn Jones is an eminent academic, and a reader in the Department of Welsh, University of Wales, Bangor, and an Editor of The Welsh Academy English-Welsh Dictionary.

The motion passed by the Committee resolved “that we and our expert adviser should totally disregard the subjective opinion in the paper and focus solely upon the substantive proposal, with appropriate rigour and objectivity.” An amendment that “The Committee reaffirms its commitment to freedom of speech and believes that a resolution to disregard any aspect of evidence presented as part of the policy
review would set a regrettable precedent for the National Assembly” was lost.

On the general issue of censorship it was then suggested that the committee secretariat filter papers submitted, but this was rejected by the head of secretariat as possibly going against article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights. A subsequent motion passed by the Panel of Chairs committee on 26 June stated that any interference with the papers submitted to any committee would be an unacceptable and unwarranted interference with right to freedom of expression and free speech under the Human Rights Act.

However, it is significant that this step to prevent citizens from giving evidence to their own legislature was taken within the context of the rights of speakers of the Welsh language. When Cymuned gave evidence to the Culture Committe of the National Assembly for Wales on November 11, 2001, the tactic was not to strike evidence from the Record, but rather to intimidate witnesses before hand. On the morning of the session two members of the Committee, inlcuding Huw Lewis AM who was instrumental in seeking the censorship of Dafydd Glyn Jones’ evidence, used a
mass-media tabloid newspaper to publically called on the “Home Office for a ruling on whether the proposals constitute a breach of new race-hate laws”.[v]

Cymuned believes that the Council of Europe should include these very serious breaches of the human rights of Welsh-language campaigners giving evidence to the National Assembly of Wales in its report on the UK.

Politicians in Wales bully representatives of minority language groups as a matter of course, and accuse them of causing ‘divisions’ in Wales.

It is interesting that the UK’s response to this question begins: “The Welsh Assembly Government recognises that the good will towards the language of the majority of the population of Wales which does not speak Welsh is necessary to its future well being. Full regard is given to this in the development of policy on the language.”

By this, the Welsh Assembly Government does not mean that it takes pro-active measures to ensure tolerance and respect towards the Welsh-minority minority, rather that it argues against rights for the minority in case this damages relationships with the majority. Thus the Government has argued against a new Welsh Language Act to protect the rights of Welsh-speakers on the grounds that this would lose the
good will of the majority.

4. In determining their policy with regard to regional or minority languages, the Parties shall take into consideration the needs and wishes expressed by the groups which use such languages. They are encouraged to establish bodies, if necessary, for the purpose of advising the authorities on all matters pertaining to regional or minority languages. It can not be said that the government takes ‘into consideration the needs and wishes expressed by’ Welsh-speaking communities in any way. It is revealing that, in referring to this paragraph on page 23 of their report, the U.K. government refers only to the Welsh Language Board, a body of the type referred
to in the second sentence of the paragraph. They make no reference at all to the requirements suggested by the first sentence (assessing the desires of Welsh-speaking communities). Whatever good work the Welsh Language Board does, it is, at the end of the day, a governmental organ, and the present chair of the Board is an active member of the same party as the government. It is extremely important that
independent surveys and assessments of the needs and desires of Welsh-speaking communities are conducted.

The rural housing crisis and associated patterns of demographic concern receive a lot of attention in the public discussions of Welsh-speaking communities, but the government has refused repeatedly to address this issue. See Appendix I.

Article 8 – Education

1. With regard to education, the Parties undertake, within the territory in which such
languages are used, according to the situation of each of these languages, and without
prejudice to the teaching of the official language(s) of the State:

e. to make available university and other higher education in regional or minority languages; or

The U.K. states, on page 25 of their own document, that ‘Welsh medium provision is allowed in Higher Education. It accounts for around 1.5% of the total provision.’ Given the fact that the Welsh-speaking population of Wales is over 18% of the total population, the U.K. Government’s own admission that only 1.5% of the total provision is in Welsh is obviously self-condemning.

Moreover, it should be added that all signs indicate, sadly, that this very small figure seems to be going down rather than going up. (See recent article in Planet by Delyth Morris, Richard Wyn Jones et al; as well as recent television broadcasts treating this issue).

f. to make arrangements to ensure the teaching of the history and the culture which is
reflected by the regional or minority language;

It should be noted that there is not adequate provision ensuring that this takes place at the University level, and that this area, like Welsh-medium education at university, is in many ways getting worse rather than better. See, for example, the recent demise of Welsh History as a University Subject. Note also that other academic departments in many Welsh universities (e.g., Religious Studies, Cardiff University) offer no courses relating their field to Welsh life, culture and history.

The U.K. Government, on page 25 of their commentary, refer only to the `Cwricwlwm Cymreig’ and school education; no mention is made of University Education whatsoever. In order to promote the Welsh language and in order to promote the associated good will of the non-Welsh-speaking population, and, indeed to help develop Welsh civil society with a responsible awareness of the history, cultural and
linguistic diversity of Wales, attention to Welsh-medium instruction and Welsh history and culture at university level is of the utmost importance.

Aricle 10 – Administrative authorities and public services

4b recruitment and, where necessary, training of the officials and other public service employees required;

Note that in reference to this point, the U.K. (on page 30 of their document) states that ‘This is a sensitive area, which needs to be taken forward gradually and strategically, avoiding discrimination.’ The suggestion that compliance with Article 10.4b could lead to `discrimination’ against the Englishspeaking majority goes against the spirit and wording of the Charter. See especially Article 7.2, which
states explicitly that `The adoption of special measures in favour of regional or minority languages … is not considered to be an act of discrimination against the users of more widely-used languages.’

The way in which the U.K. seeks to use ‘discrimination’ against the empowered majority as an excuse not to act in order to aid the disempowered minority is in many ways characteristic of the public statements made by several key government figures over the past years. In other words, this is characteristic of one tactic the Governments in London and Cardiff use to avoid taking action to help the Welsh-speaking minority.

It might be noted that the principle contained in Article 7.2 of the Charter is also soundly supported by other international declarations and rulings. For example the United Nation has affirmed the European Court of Human Rights finding that:
‘Discrimination is not limited only to those cases in which a person or group is treated worse than another similar group. It may also be discrimination to treat different groups alike: to treat a minority and majority alike may amount to discrimination against the minority. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights has held that if a State takes positive measures to enhance the status of a minority group (for example, with respect to their participation in the democratic process), the majority can not claim discrimination based on such measures. In general, ‘a balance must be achieved which ensures the fair and proper treatment of minorities and avoids any abuse of a dominant position.’ (Pamphlet No.7 of the United Nation Guide for Minorities, page 2.)

Article 11 – Media

1e (i) to encourage and/or facilitate the creation and/or maintenance of at least one newspaper in Welsh;

There is no daily newspaper published in Welsh. Given the size of the Welsh-speaking minority in Wales and the United Kingdom, this is extraordinary.

Article 12 – Cultural Activities and Facilities

2 In respect of territories other than those in which Welsh is traditionally used, if the number of users of Welsh justifies it, to allow, encourage and/or provide appropriate cultural activities and facilities in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

With the exception of a one-off grant payment of £25,000 grant aid to one independent primary school in London with fewer than 30 children on its books, and local authority subsidy for the occassional night class to learn Welsh, the United Kingdom has made no provision at all in those parts of the State outside Wales.

Article 13 – Economic and social life

1. With regard to economic and social activities, the Parties undertake, within the whole country:

a. to eliminate from their legislation any provision prohibiting or limiting without
justifiable reasons the use of regional or minority languages in documents relating to
economic or social life, particularly contracts of employment, and in technical
documents such as instructions for the use of products or installations;

We would like to draw attention to the fact that the U.K. has not signed 1.b, namely:

1.b: to prohibit the insertion in internal regulations of companies and private documents of any clauses excluding or restricting the use of regional or minority languages, at least between users of the same language;

This proves the U.K. governments refusal to approach problems relating to private companies and enterprise. In a society characterized by a free-market economy, the private sector is obviously of the utmost importance. Logic thus dictates that the private sector must be addressed if effective language planning and legislation is to be followed. The principle of regulating private enterprise for moral reasons and the associated principle of ‘sustainable development’ have long since earned a place in the
U.K.’s legislation when ecological concerns are at questions. The same principles should be extended for cultural reasons. Relevant details are raised in Appendix I.

It is essential that the range of activities and measures covered by the Welsh Language Act (1993) are extended to the private sector. Only by such steps will the problems facing Welsh be addressed in the spheres of employment and economic activity.

2. With regard to economic and social activities, the Parties undertake, in so far as the public authorities are competent, within the territory in which the regional or minority languages are used, and as far as this is reasonably possible:

c. to ensure that social care facilities such as hospitals, retirement homes and hostels offer the possibility of receiving and treating in their own language persons using a regional or minority language who are in need of care on grounds of ill-health, old age or for other reasons;

The U.K. Government, in their own words on pages 36, state that ‘the Welsh Language Board reports that there is considerable scope for improvement by health and social care public bodies in implementing their Schemes.’ This admission of inadequacy could even be amplified.

An authorative report by Andy Misell, Welsh in the Health Service, published by the Welsh Consumers Council in 2000, shows that this can impact on patient care.

Cymuned believes that the Council of Europe should send out the strongest possible signal to the UK Government about the need to provide a Welsh-language service within the context of the National Health Service.

Appendix I – Social and Economic Life – The housing market

The Problem

The main problem facing the Welsh language is the disappearance of majority Welsh-speaking communities in the face of demographic change.

Some of this demographic change is due to counter-urbanization, a West European phenomenon that is difficult to tackle within the sphere of public policy. But some of this demographic change can be attributed to a housing crisis in rural Wales which sees properties sold for prices that members of the local community cannot afford. Tackling the issue of affordable housing in rural communities, without expanding the housing stock so that it further destabilises the minority language community, can be a realistic goal of responsible Government.

Between 1997 and 2001, house prices in Ceredigion (west Wales, 60% Welsh-speaking, 1991 census) rose 36.2%, in Ynys Môn, (north Wales, 62% Welsh-speaking) by 27%, and Gwynedd (north-west Wales, 73% Welsh-speaking) by 26%. In reality the figure for rural parts of Gwynedd (a county that also includes urban and post-industrial communities) would be similar to those for Ceredigion, which is an entirely rural county with one large University town.[vi]

According to Economic and Social Indicators for Gwynedd (July 200), published by Gwynedd Council, up to 87.5% of the housing stock available for sale in some rural communities (Brithdir a Llanfachreth, for example) was sold to purchasers from outside the county in 1999.

The figure for the whole of Gwynedd was 32%, a figure that masks a deep divide between rural communities, where in-migration is substantial, and post-industrial and urban communities, where inmigration is at a far lower rate.

Gwynedd Council’s latest housing figures, for the period July 2001 – March 2002, showed that 32% of properties were purchased by individuals from outside Gwynedd. In the more urban northern part of the county, Arfon, only 19% of purchasers came from outside the county, a figure which rises to 40% in the more rural western Dwyfor, and then to 53% in the southern rural Meirionnydd. In Ffestiniog, a large
town in the north of the county in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and, by UK standards, low housing prices, 67% of the houses sold on the market went to buyers from outside the area.[vii]

Cymuned does not believe that it is possible for social life to be led through the medium of Welsh whilst demographic change in Welsh-speaking communities takes place at this speed. Part of this problem is that Welsh speakers, as a statistical group, are also disenfranchised in economic terms (see sources referenced in note iv below).

In addition to the sale of existing houses, the planning for and construction of new housing is often conducted in way which undermines the linguistic fabric of Welsh-speaking communities. It is essential that planning and housing development is predicated upon detailed independent research into local needs.

For example, the Planning Authority (Awdurdod Cynllunio) of Ceredigion has grossly overestimated population growth and allowed for a massive number of new houses. With the National Statistics Office predicts the Ceredigion’s population will grow by 4.3% by 2016, the Planning Authority has predicated a fancifully large growth of 23%. The resulting large number of new houses allowed can thus only be filled by non-Welsh speaking people drawn to the area by this artificial housing glut.

Imperative and Precedent

Article 7.1 of the Charter clearly binds the government to take positive steps in favour of Welsh. On page 11 of the Charter’s commentary on Article 7.1, paragraphs c and d, it is clearly stated that, “by reason of the weakness of numerous regional or minority languages, the mere prohibition of discrimination is not sufficient to ensure their survival. They need positive support.’ 7.2 clarifies this point by noting that speakers of English can not claim that measures taken on behalf of Welsh are
discrimination against them. As the rural housing crises is the main threat currently posed to the survival of Welsh as a community language, it is clear that the government needs to regulate the housing market so as to reverse current trends. Such action would be in keeping with the spirit of the Charter.

Indeed, while the Government has refused to address this problem, they have admitted its importance.

The recent review of the Welsh Assembly’s Culture Committee, Ein Hiaith: Ei Dyfodol, acknowledges that ‘the ability of Welsh speakers to get houses in their own communities is important in order to secure a future for the language’ (clause 7.6). However, in the same review the Committee states that is not the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government to do this.

To make the situation even worse, while some local authorities (Pembroke Coast Park Authority, Snowdonia National Park Authority, Gwynedd County Council) have generated measures designed to help local communities regarding housing issues, the Welsh Assembly Government has showed signs of going against these local decisions. The Welsh Assembly Government is thus enacting an obvious kind of deceit: they say that they will not legislate in this area as it is the responsible of other tiers of
government, including the local level, but when local authorities and councils take steps towards protecting Welsh communities, the Welsh Assembly Government takes steps to counter their measures.

Moral and legislative precedent for regulating the housing market in Welsh-speaking communities can be found in the field of ecology. It has long been established that private business and enterprise must be regulated by law (regarding pollution, etc.), and the principle of ‘sustainable development’ is now a cornerstone of responsible business-ecology negotiations. Paul Hawken has summarized the point eloquently:

“The ultimate purpose of business is not, or should not be, simply to make money. Nor is it merely a system of making and selling things. The promise of business is to increase the general well-being of humankind through service, creative invention and ethical philosophy.” (The Ecology of Commerce, New York, 1993, pages1-2):

These moral considerations should be applied, with the necessary leverage of legislation, to estate agents and housing developers working in Welsh-speaking communities. The legislative precedent found in the field of ecology, like the moral mandate, is clear and compelling.

Moreover, their are many U.K. and European precedents for legislation designed to ensure that the housing market does not have a negative impact upon local communities. See, for example, Lake District National Park Authority Local Plan (Kendal, 1998), Section 5, pages 55-66. See also ways in which the housing market is regulated to protect local communities in Denmark, Finland and Norway (Cymuned will supply detailed information upon request).

Even more conservative meaures, like a cash injection into a part-ownership Home Buy scheme, have been under-funded. Following the publication of Iaith Pawb, this sheme received an additional £750,000 only for the whole of Wales, a tiny sum that will only ensure affordability for a few dozen houses. University of Wales academic Ned Thomas, writing in Planet, says: “On the question of the housing market and its effect on heartland communities, Cymuned is right to find the scale and range of
measures put forward in the action plan hopelessly inadequate, though some of them probably derive from Cymuned proposals.”[viii]

Appendix II – ‘The Dirty War on Welsh’ conducted by some politicians and media
figures

In blatant contravention of the spirit and word of the Charter, some members of the UK and Welsh Assembly Governments, as well as candidates standing in the name of the governing Labour Party, have aided and abetted a vicious campaign against Welsh and Welsh speakers carried out by the tabloid newspaper The Welsh Mirror, and specifically by the journalist Paul Starling.

A detailed discussion of this hate campaign is found in two articles published by Patrick McGuinnes (himself a member of the Labour Party and former Labour candidate in England). He describes these activities as “a full scale (and dirty) war against the Welsh language”, adding that they resemble “classic minority-bashing campaigns.”[ix]

The Welsh Mirror journalist primarily responsible for this hate campaign, Paul Starling, has direct links with the Welsh Labour Party, and strong evidence suggests that he is carrying out this hate campaign on the Party’s behalf. He has worked directly with several Labour A.M.’s and M.P.’s in executing this anti-Welsh campaign.
Furthermore, Labour candidates have indulged in similar anti-Welsh discourse for political ends (for example, Martin Eaglestone, Labour Candidate in Arfon.) This kind of negative campaigning is sometimes more subtle than the tabloid’s blatant hate campaign, but it is nonetheless aimed at questioning the right of Welsh-language culture to exist with the support of just the kinds of measures and considerations suggested in this Charter.

Notes
[i] Jeremy Evas, `Declining Density: A Danger for the Language?’, Language Revitalization[:] Policy and Planning in Wales, Colin H. Williams (ed.), (Cardiff, 2000), page 305.
[ii] Figures supplied by the Further Education Funding Council.
[iii] Jeremy Evas, page 305.
[iv] Glyn Williams, `Recent trends in the sociology of Wales’, The Welsh and Their Country (Llandysul, 1986), page 187.
See also Delyth Morris and Glyn Williams, Language Planning and Language Use [:] Welsh in a Global Age (Cardiff, 2000).
[v] Huw Lewis, quoted in Welsh Mirror, 7 November 2001.
[vi] Research Unit, Planning and Economic Development Department – Gwynedd Council, “Research Papers – Housing”,
[2002].
[vii] ibid.
[viii] Ned Thomas, ‘An Action Plan for Welsh’, Planet (157).
[ix] Patrick McGuinnes, `The War on Welsh’, Planet (153), and `The War on Welsh: An Update’, Planet (155).

On May 12, 2003 Dr Jerry Hunter from Penygroes in North Wales gave evidence (for the second year in succession) on behalf of the Communities Pressure Group CYMUNED to the United Nations Working Group on Minorities. The evidence was again well received, as the previous evidence had been in 2002.

The Commission on Human Rights
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Human Rights
Fifty-fifth session
Working Group on Minorities
Ninth Session
12-16 May 2003
Geneva, May 12, 2003

Thank you Mr. Chairman and Members of the Working Group,

My name is Jerry Hunter and I represent the NGO Cymuned (`Community’), a group which campaigns on behalf of the Welsh-speaking minority of Wales in the United Kingdom. I would like to begin by saying that I am not here to accuse the U. K. government of actively oppressing the Welsh-speaking minority, but rather to stress the general fact that an unregulated free-market economy can have a disastrous effect
upon fragile minoritized communities. In this respect, I hope that the points which I make about the specific case in Wales will be relevant to a wider discussion regarding economic development and minority rights.

Welsh speakers are a distinct minority by any definition, being less than 20% of the population of Wales and less than 1% of the population of the United Kingdom. They are also an economically disadvantaged group. Research by professional sociologists has highlighted what scholars call the `cultural divide in the workplace’; firm statistics show that Welsh speakers are over-represented in unskilled, semi-skilled and
low-paying employment sectors while members of the Englishspeaking majority living in the same areas are over-represented in higher-paying employment sectors.

As is the case in so many other places around the world, we find that the lines of economic disadvantage are drawn alongside the social, cultural and linguistic lines which set a minoritized group apart from the majority with which it coexists. Research suggests that the greatest threat facing Welshspeaking communities today is an unregulated housing market which allows economically privileged members of the majority to push economically disadvantaged members of the minority group out of the housing market in their own community.

Many international laws and declarations relating to minority rights stress the importance of exercising these rights at the community level. For example, Article 27 of The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that `minorities [...] shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture [...] or to use their own language.’ This emphasis on the community level is echoed by scholars such as Joshua Fishman who study
minority languages. `Instead of being the language of linguistically isolated families,’ Fishman states, minority languages must exist in `demographic concentration [as a]
community.’

This existence on the community level, a fundamental right of minority cultures and, according to scholars like Fishman, something which is essential to the very survival of a minority language, is exactly what is being undermined by the current housing market in Wales.

During last year’s session of the Working Group, there was a very productive discussion on development issues and minorities. In a presentation made by a representative of the Minority Rights Group, she emphasized `the need to mainstream
minority rights into development’.iv[iv] I would like to stress the wisdom of this statement, and point out that this important principle can be exemplified by looking at the way in which the housing market and the housing development industry has a
negative impact upon Welsh-speaking communities. An example of this problem in Wales is the fact that Ceredigion County Council’s plans for housing development are completely out of line with the needs of the local community.

Housing is a fundamental right, a necessity for life. But in a free-market economy, housing is intensely commodified, so that new housing developments are seen purely as profit-making ventures rather than as a way of serving the needs of the local community. In addition, an unregulated housing market means that the prices of existing houses can rise out of the reach of local minoritized groups if the area becomes a choice destination for wealthy `life-style immigrants’ belonging to the
empowered majority. There is a very real need to mainstream minority rights into development in the context of housing in rural Wales.

I again note that I am not here to accuse the U.K. and Welsh governments, but rather to accuse the uncaring free-market economy and those wealthy individuals and businesses who wield their economic power, perhaps unwittingly, to the detriment of fragile minoritized communities.

The recent review of the Welsh Assembly’s Culture Committee acknowledges that – and I quote – `the ability of Welsh speakers to get houses in their own communities is important in order to secure a future for the language.’ In this respect, the government has acknowledged one of the main concerns voiced by Cymuned and other NGOs working on behalf of Welsh speakers, and in this respect we can point to a positive development in the dialogue between the Welsh Assembly government and these NGOs.

However, the same document also states that it is not the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with the issue, and this area of concern is thus relegated to other levels of government such as local authorities. Some local authorities (like the Snowdonia National Park Authority and Gwynedd County Council) have generated measures designed to help minoritized communities regarding housing issues.

Again, this is a very concrete and very positive development in which at least one level of government is moving in the direction which we have suggested. However, there have also been hints that members of the National Assembly government might want to move to restrict or even stop the positive solutions generated by local authorities, and thus it is very important that positive pressure be brought to bear in order to see that these measures are carried out and that they are taken up by other authorities and other layers of government.

During last year’s session, Mr. Sorabjee articulated the principle of `cultural autonomy’ which he defined as `the right of members of minority communities to make informed choices about what is valuable and worth pursing in life’. He also noted
that `Cultural autonomy in essence means the freedom to develop and preserve, in condition of full equality, cultural identity without forcible assimilation.’

Welsh-speaking communities’ `freedom to develop and preserve cultural identity’ is in danger, not because of government action or overt oppression, but rather because of economic pressures. Nevertheless, as these economic pressures result in a massive
demographic shift, we find that a kind of `forcible assimilation’ does take place. It is not the force of violence or military might, but the sheer force of numbers and economic power. The means are very different, but the end result can be the same.

These are very complex problems, and they require creative solutions. Following last year’s discussion on development and minority rights, I hope that the Working Group will continue to address the injustices which a free-market economy can visit
upon disadvantaged minorities.

And, realizing that housing is a universal concern, I hope that a future Social Forum might indeed be devoted to housing issues and the impact of the housing market on minority communities’ rights and ability to survive. In this crucial area we most
definitely see `the need to mainstream minority rights into development’.

Response by the Welsh Assembly Government to the statement by Cymuned to the United Nation’s Working Group on Minorities

Thank you Mr. Chairman for giving me the floor. I would like to respond to comments made yesterday under agenda item 3 (a) by CYMUNED, regarding the affordability of housing in Wales. We appreciate that the comments made on behalf of CYMUNED were not criticising the United Kingdom Government or the Welsh Assembly but rather were addressing the effects of market forces on the affordability of housing in Wales. Nevertheless, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the measures that the Welsh Assembly is taking to address the same concerns.

The following comments are made on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government which is the devolved administration for Wales within the United Kingdom.

The Welsh Assembly Government recently launched a National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales. This contains a number of measures to address the future of Welsh-speaking communities. The Welsh Assembly Government is aware that the lack of affordable housing in Welsh-speaking communities is one reason why young people are moving out of rural Wales. That is why we have increased the maximum equity loan available under the Homebuy scheme to 50% in rural areas so that local people can purchase affordable housing.

For 2003-04 the WAG shall be providing £56.4 million by means of the Social Housing Grant in order to help to provide affordable housing and £1.5 million has been allocated to increase the Social Housing Grant allocated to the Homebuy scheme in rural areas.

The WAG has also introduced an Assembly Order which extends the number of rural areas where restrictions exist on the sale and resale of homes under the Right to Acquire in order to ensure a supply of affordable housing for local people.

Thank you very much.

At the end of May 2002, Dr Jerry Hunter from Penygroes in North Wales gave evidence on behalf of the Communities Pressure Group CYMUNED to the United Nations Working Group on Minorities. The evidence was well received. The Working Group Chairman remarked that it was of significance to the international community. A situation existed, he said, where “some people could afford two or three houses, and others have none”, and the whole subject of in-migration has “particular
significance for the disintegration of language communities.”

Submission by Cymuned

The Commission on Human Rights
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Human Rights
Fifty-fourth session
Working Group on Minorities
Eighth Session
27-31 May 2002
Geneva, May 27/31, 2002.

Thank you Mr. Chairman and Members of the Working Group,

My name is Jerry Hunter. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and a former lecturer at Harvard University. I currently lecture in Welsh at the University of Wales, and I represent the NGO Cymuned, a group which campaigns on behalf of the
Welsh-speaking minority of Wales in the United Kingdom.

Introduction

I would like to draw your attention to the problems faced by the Welsh-speaking minority of Wales and the fact that one of the most fundamental rights of Welsh-speaking communities is being threatened: the right to exist and the right to continue to exist.

Welsh speakers have been oppressed in a variety of ways since the conquest of Wales in the late middle ages, including the legislative relegation of the language to a secondary status within Wales and the practice of the ‘Welsh not’ in the 19th century, which led to beating children for speaking their native tongue in school. The discrimination was less brutal and obvious during the 20th century, and the U.K. Government made some legislative amends by passing Welsh Language Acts in 1967 and 1993 which removed some of the official stigma formerly placed upon the language.

However, the weight of past centuries’ injustices and a failure to make this minority
language truly equal in all spheres of Welsh life has meant that the language continued to decline. A little over 500,000 people speak Welsh today, or about 18% of the three million people who live in Wales. As Wales is part of the United Kingdom, and as the total population of the U.K. is now estimated at around 60 million people, it will be seen that those who speak Welsh constitute a very small minority within the greater state in which they live, being less than 1% of the entire population of the United Kingdom.

A combination of social and economic factors, aided and abetted by governmental inaction and a lack of political will, is now threatening to destroy this linguistic minority completely.

Welsh is being undermined as a community language by three factors:

1. an outward migration forced by poor economic conditions
2. an in-ward migration of people who do not speak Welsh
3. the failure of the vast majority of in-migrants to learn the
language.

The negative pressures brought to bear upon Welsh as a community language during the past decades can be graphically demonstrated by referring to the geographical area of Wales with a Welsh speaking population of 80% or more. In 1961, 36.8% of the geographical area of Wales reached this mark. By 1971, this had declined to 27.4%. And by 1981, this had gone down to only 9.7%. Subsequent statistics and analyses
show that a similar decline continues.

If the combination of negative factors which are now arrayed against these communities is not addressed and checked, then it is believed that Welsh as a living community language will be exterminated. And there is every reason to believe that the destruction of Welsh as a community language will lead to ultimate and total destruction of this minority language.

Perhaps the leading expert on invigorating minority languages, Joshua Fishman, has made it clear that a language must be kept alive at community level in order to survive: “Instead of being the language of linguistically isolated families [the minority
language] must also become the language of interfamily interaction, of interaction with playmates, neighbors, friends and acquaintances. Via demographic concentration, those who [...] are organized only on an individual family basis strive to attain an even higher form of social organization: beginning with family they attain community.”

It is exactly this demographic concentration which is being undermined in traditionally Welsh speaking communities today. In discussing native American languages, James Crawford notes several `social changes’ and `dislocations’ which can undermine these minority languages, and at the top of his list he places: `Demographic factors [:] In- and out-migration.’ He states safeguarding community space as a crucial factor in ensuring a language’s survival, noting the specific example of California, `a state that [...] refused to establish [...] space for language communities to regroup’, a neglect with serious consequences: `It is no coincidence that indigenous tongues in California are among the most endangered in the U.S.A.’ In
short, all research indicates that minority languages must be able to live at the community level in order to survive.

Statistics clearly show that Welsh as a community language is being undermined. One of the indigenous languages of the United Kingdom is being threatened with extinction, and thus the multinational, multicultural and multilingual society of the
United Kingdom is being threatened. Moreover, the minority of people who speak Welsh as their first language are being denied the right to continue as a distinct cultural and linguistic group.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, states in the Article One, Clause One, that:
“States shall protect the existence of the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.”

And in Clause Two, it adds that: “States shall adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve these ends.”

Given the obvious lessons to be learned from statistics regarding the condition of Welsh as a community language, it is clear that the Welsh Assembly Government in Cardiff and the U.K. Government in London are not acting in full accordance with Article 1 of the Declaration. Instead of using appropriate legislative and other measures to encourage and nurture this minority community, the Welsh and United Kingdom governments are allowing a combination of social and economic factors to erode the language and deny Welsh-speakers their fundamental right to continue to exist as a distinct group within a multinational, multicultural and multilingual United Kingdom.

Furthermore, Article 27 of The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that `linguistic minorities [...] shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture [...] or to use their own language.’

As the facts provided by official surveys such as the census clearly show that Welsh is being undermined as a community language, it must be said that politicians in Wales and the United Kingdom are ignoring the responsibility placed upon them by Article 27 of the International Covenant.

An Analyses of the Problems

1) outward migration

Welsh-speaking communities are economically disadvantaged. They constitute some of the poorest parts of the United Kingdom, and, indeed, some of the poorest parts of Western Europe. In addition, statistics also demonstrate what academics define as the `cultural divide in the workplace’, with Welsh speakers tending to occupy lower-paid jobs, especially in the private sector. Census figures also show that people who don’t
speak Welsh (and who moved into these areas) are proportionally over-represented in professional, supervisory and managerial employment categories, while Welsh speakers are over-represented in the unskilled and semi-skilled categories. This means that many Welsh speakers can not stay in their communities and are forced to seek employment elsewhere.

2) inward migration

Wales is a very beautiful country and it thus draws a great number of people seeking to enjoy its mountains, sea coasts and rural landscapes. This is a clear example of rural inmigration, a phenomenon which has been acknowledged in a report commissioned by the European Commission. Many of these `life-style immigrants’ who move into rural Wales come from much wealthier areas and much more privileged economic backgrounds in England; as a result, the prices of local houses
are out of proportion to the local economy, and local people are priced out of the houses in their own communities. This increases the pressure on Welsh speakers to leave their communities.

In addition to forcing young Welsh speakers out of their own communities by economic means, this in-migration has another negative effect on the minority language in that very few inmigrants actually learn Welsh. In a recent survey, 66% of non-Welsh speaking in-migrants to Welsh-speaking communities said they did not feel inclined to learn the language. Statistics regarding language classes show an even more disheartening picture: one recent study showed that in the old county of
Dyfed, only 1.7% of the non-Welsh speaking population were registered on Welsh courses. Studies also suggest that, out of that small 1.7%, about 90% will not follow through and continue the language course.

In addition to placing the indigenous population of Welshspeaking communities at an economic disadvantage, this rural in-migration is overwhelmingly constituted by individuals who can’t or won’t attempt to learn Welsh. As a result, this minority
language is being undermined and Welsh-speakers are being increasingly denied the right to use their language in their own communities. History has witnessed the forced movement of peoples used as a weapon to undermine minority cultures.
Rather than being a governmental-lead movement of peoples, what we are seeing in Wales today is a demographic shift allowed by the government’s refusal to regulate the housing market. Unfettered capitalism is thus allowing this movement of
peoples to destroy Welsh as a community language.

Dr. Michael Krauss, former president of `The Society for the study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas’ and director of `The Alaska native Language Center’ has described this kind of lack of political will as `brutishly [...] allowing “survival of the fittest” to prevail over human rights in this manner, even though as human beings we are also supposed to be endowed with reason and the ability to control our impulses
and plan rationally for the future.’ In other words, the government is `brutishly allowing’ wealthy individuals and businesses who are not part of the minority community to exercise their economic might to the detriment of that fragile
minority community.

The general principle of intervening in the free market for moral reasons is well established in the realm of ecology. It has long been recognized that economic and industrial forces must be regulated in order to protect threatened ecosystems and thus preserve the natural wealth of the world. The sociologist C. Wright Mills has described the `higher immorality’ which places economic power and advantage above fundamental moral concerns, noting that this kind of attitude becomes
institutionalized as an `organized irresponsibility’.

The same holds true for preserving the cultural wealth of the world and protecting threatened linguistic minorities like the Welsh-speaking communities of Wales. Allowing economic might to rule the housing market in Wales is an example of this
`higher immorality’, and allowing this situation to continue to undermine a minority language is a kind of `organized irresponsibility’ which should be rectified by adopting
legislative measures. It is clear that, in order to act in the spirit of The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the government must `encourage conditions for the promotion’ of the Welsh language and intervene in the housing market by adopting `appropriate legislative and other measures’.

There are plenty of precedents for this kind of positive intervention. For example, Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority community on the island of Aland is protected by the kind of legislative measures we would like to see enacted in Wales. And in England, even though no threatened linguistic minority is at risk, the Lake District National Park Authority has intervened in the housing market in order to protect the integrity of the local traditional community.

In other words, in calling for legislative measures which would restrict the housing market and protect Welsh as a minority language, we are calling for action in keeping with Article One of the Declaration, and we are only asking for the kind of steps which have already been taken elsewhere.

Some local authorities in Wales the Pembroke Coast National Park Authority, the Snowdonia National Park Authority and Gwynedd County Council have taken steps in this general direction, but positive pressure must be placed upon the Welsh Assembly Government in Cardiff in order to ensure that these local attempts at generating positive legislation are supported on the national level.

Welsh-speakers are not being threatened with the kind of violent aggression which has been aimed at other minority groups around the world in recent years. They belong to a minority which exists peacefully under the rule of a democratically
elected government. Indeed, Welsh has been held up as a positive example of how a minority language can thrive in the modern world. However, the sad reality is that this potentially positive example for the rest of the world is in fact in danger of
disappearing forever from the face of the world.

If the Welsh Assembly Government and the U.K. Government can not be motivated to address the problems facing Welsh today, then it will disappear as a living community language. The disappearance of Welsh-speaking communities shows that a minority community in a developed, democratic country can be pushed to the brink of extinction by governmental refusal to recognize the dangers posed by a free-market economy to economically week minority communities.

If individual economic might is allowed to triumph over the rights of minority
communities, then those communities will cease to exist.

To the Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales

February 2003

1. Introduction

1.1 Cymuned is a communities pressure-group, with membership drawn from all walks of life across a very wide age-range. It was set up in 2001, in response to the rapid deterioration in the position of Welsh as a community language, in the face of large-scale in-migration of non-Welsh speakers to the remaining majority Welsh-speaking communities, during the 1990s in particular, and of extensive out-migration of young Welsh-speaking people in search of employment and affordable homes. Our campaign is for a recognised human right: the right of a linguistic minority to exist and to continue to exist.

150 years ago, Welsh was the majority language of most of the geographical area of Wales. The subsequent transformation of this state of affairs has resulted from pressures that are man-made and in no sense natural. Cymuned believes that, unless the enormous demographic shifts within what remains of Welsh-speaking Wales are addressed, and appropriate policies are put in place in the fields of housing and employment, the Welsh language will not survive as a community language; and that if it does not survive as a community language, then, after a while, Welsh will cease to exist as a language.

1.2 Cymuned campaigns for keeping Welsh-speaking communities sustainable by means of

i. regulation of the housing market in favour of young people who wish to remain in their local communities (and who are increasingly unable to do so, because of uncontrolled house price inflation);

ii. the use of existing planning legislation to create a community housing market that would protect the interests of local people who have a need for affordable housing.

1.3 Cymuned also campaigns for the implementation of a range of measures, in the fields of economic development and education, that would have the effect of increasing the incidence of Welsh and its everyday use as a community language, and of promoting knowledge of Wales’ indigenous culture, history and heritage.

1.4 There is not a single example in Europe of a language’s being restored after it has ceased to be the language of everyday use of every community in its traditional language territory. The right of indigenous language communities to exist, and to have their existence protected and their identity promoted by appropriate legislative measures, is one that is acknowledged in Resolution 47/135 of the United Nations (its Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities); and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, to which the UK Government is a signatory, acknowledges that the right to use a regional or minority language in private and public life is an inalienable right, conforming to the principles embodied in the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and according to the spirit of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

1.5 Article 7c of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages further promulgates a need for resolute action, on the part of signatory states, to promote regional or minority languages in order to safeguard them; and article 7b promulgates the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regional or minority languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life, as an objective on which signatory states shall base their policies, legislation and practice.

1.6 Cymuned is of the opinion that Wales’ elected representatives, both in the National Assembly for Wales and the Westminster Parliament, have shown insufficient decisiveness in addressing the problems that the Welsh language, Welsh culture and Welsh-speaking communities are facing. We are dismayed by the manner in which the establishment of the National Assembly of Wales has led to an intensification of attacks, for party political purposes, upon the Welsh language, speakers of that language, and those who seek to promote its well-being and growth as a community language.

We are also disappointed by the limited and peripheral nature of the measures announced by the Assembly, to date, for seeking to secure and strengthen the position of Welsh as a community language. Central problems such as housing, and the need for large-scale provision of teaching of Welsh to adults, are not addressed, and in our opinion the measures proposed will achieve no more than a slowing-down of decline — not its reversal.

2. Bilingualism

2.1 Cymuned supports the National Assembly’s stated aim of creating a bilingual Wales. However, we question the adequacy in practice of what the Assembly appears to understand by the phrase ‘a bilingual Wales’. A typical definition is found in Our Language: Its Future, the Policy Review of the Welsh Language published jointly by the Assembly’s Culture Committee and Education and Lifelong Learning Committee in 2002:

“In a truly bilingual Wales, both Welsh and English will flourish and be treated as equal. A bilingual Wales means a country where people can choose to live their lives through the medium of either or both languages”

2.2 Wales will not be a bilingual country until it is possible for every citizen to live the whole of his or her life, every hour of every day, entirely through the medium of one only of the two languages if he or she so wishes. A non-Welsh speaking person today can live his or her daily life wholly through the medium of English, as the full range of public and commercial facilities is available through the medium of English; it is impossible for anyone to live daily life wholly through the medium of Welsh, as the full range of public and commercial facilities required to make that possible is not available through the medium of the Welsh language.

True bilingualism entails more than a token provision of bilingual facilities and services in the public sector and in a few comparatively enlightened pockets of the private sector, as happens today. It entails the provision of a full range of facilities, and the conducting of the full range of public, commercial and social activities, solely through the medium of Welsh, alongside those that are provided and conducted solely through the medium of English.

2.3 Wales will also not be a bilingual country until every child who was living in Wales at the start of his or her education, and who has remained resident in Wales for at least 90 per cent of his or her life since then, leaves school at age 16 with a qualification in oral and written First Language Welsh, and with the ability to conduct extended conversations in the Welsh language on a wide range of topics and in a wide range of situations.

Otherwise, the bilingualism of the majority of young people who have gone through the education system in Wales will be no more than the ability to deploy a few sentences of basic Welsh in reponse to basic enquiries or comments by native Welsh-speakers. That is entirely different from the ability to use Welsh in a full range of activities and situations; and the kind of bilingualism that is a combination of fluency in English and an uncertain grasp of Second Language Welsh is not enough to maintain Welsh as a viable community and cultural medium, let alone reinforce it.

2.4 Cymuned is deeply dismayed by proliferating evidence that a flawed concept of bilingualism, and of ‘equality’ between the two languages, is being used as a justification for diluting the use of Welsh in settings that formerly were securely monolingual. At a community level, this includes bilingualising such activities as school assemblies and school concerts in majority Welshspeaking communities (the centrality of the school to the life of a community, particularly a village community, surely needs no emphasising), and the devising, for the purposes of bilingual signage policies, of English names for places where none have ever existed or been needed.

The effect of developments such as these is to move further from, rather than closer to, a situation in which it would be possible for individuals who wished to do so to live daily life wholly through the medium of Welsh. It also further reduces the incentive for monoglot English-speakers to learn Welsh and take a full part in community activities and interactions conducted in Welsh, as well as those that are conducted in English (a Welsh-speaker is able to take part in both).

Moreover, as the number of monoglot English-speakers in a community grows, the number of settings in which it is possible for Welsh-speakers to deploy the Welsh language operationally and socially is rapidly curtailed, to the point where the Welsh language becomes extinguished altogether as a language of community. In the interim, the practical effect of applying the Assembly’s inadequate definition of bilingualism will be the creation of a society in which a large body of facilities and activities is available monolingually in English, and a small range of facilities and activities is available bilingually. This is not a mechanism for securing the continuance of the Welsh language as a living social medium: the end result of the type of bilingualism conceived of by the Assembly is anglicisation.

3. The Status of the Welsh Language in a new Constitutional Settlement

3.1 Cymuned believes that a fully adequate legal status for the Welsh language must be irreversibly built into any new constitutional settlement for Wales, particularly if that settlement includes (as seems inevitable in the longer term) the acquisition, by the National Assembly, of primary legislative powers — a development which would have major implications for what was possible in most or all of the the fields (housing, planning, economic development, education and communications) which impinge most critically on the well-being and continuance of the Welsh language.

3.2 Cymuned further believes that there is an urgent need for statutory measures to secure, against further decline, the remaining majority Welshspeaking communities, and those which were majority Welsh-speaking communities until comparatively recently. The Welsh Heartlands Authority proposed in paragraph 4.7 below would
have, as its geographical basis, those communities that were still majority Welsh-speaking communities at the time of the 1971 Census — the last Census before the commencement of large-scale in-migration driven by an unregulated housing-market. The overriding aim of the Authority would be to administer the planning, housing, economic development and education systems, and communications, in ways that secured the continued viability of the Welsh language in the communities under its jurisdiction, and the prosperity and stability of those communities.

The basis of the proposal for a Community Rights Law, in paragraph 4.6, is a belief in the need to create a system of legal safeguards against the destruction of communities by the operation of market forces or corporate fiat. The system of English Law safeguards the rights of individuals and the rights of bodies corporate, but grants almost no status or rights to communities as distinct entities. This is why communities have traditionally been defenceless against, on the one hand, the long-term effects of housing developments by individuals and, on the other, corporate decisions such as plans by urban corporations to turn rural valleys into reservoirs.

A Community Rights Law of the kind envisaged would in fact protect communities of all kinds, in any part of the UK in which such legislation was implemented. However, it is an urgent need in the case of Welsh-speaking communities.

4. Cymuned’s proposals

4.1 Our proposals relate to the first of the consultation questions set out in the Commission’s discussion-paper:

“Does the Government of Wales Act provide the Assembly with the powers it needs to operate effectively and meet the expectations of the people of Wales?”

4.2 In our view, a new constitutional framework for Wales should include the following declarations:

4.3 The Welsh language, the language whose particular and historic geographical locus is Wales, is the rightful and official language of Wales, and is considered to be its first national language.1[1] English is also an official language in Wales.

4.4 The Welsh language, as an unique cultural heritage of Wales, shall be the object of special respect and protection.2[2]

4.5 Within two generations (that is, by the year 2055), every permanent resident of Wales shall have the duty to know the Welsh language, and the right to use it.3[3]

4.6 The Welsh Assembly Government shall establish a Community Rights Law for Wales, whereby all administrative communities (at Town and Community Council level) in Wales are defined as distinct legal entities, with distinct powers and distinct rights that shall not be overridden by the powers or rights either of individuals or of bodies corporate.

4.7 The Welsh Assembly Government shall establish a Welsh Heartlands Authority, which shall take over all executive, representative and advisory responsibilities, at local government level, in the fields of planning, housing, economic development, education and communications in the following areas of Wales:

i. those administrative communities in which 70% of the permanent residents were Welsh-speaking at the time of the 1971 Census;

ii. any other administrative community that may decide in due course, by a two-thirds majority in a local referendum of the electors in that community, that it wishes
to come within the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority.

In these communities, every permanent resident is guaranteed the right and ability to conduct all aspects of his or her daily life entirely through the medium of Welsh if he or she so wishes. In these communities, all public business shall, with immediate effect, be conducted solely through the medium of Welsh, with the provision of full translation and interpreting services into and out of English as and when required by non-Welsh speaking people.

A duty is hereby laid on the Welsh Assembly Government to achieve, within one generation (that is, by the year 2030), a state of affairs whereby all commercial and otherwise privately-run business, and all voluntary business, in these communities is also conducted solely through the medium of Welsh, with the provision of full translation and interpreting services into and out of English as and when required by
non-Welsh speaking people.

The Welsh Assembly Government shall, with immediate effect, institute measures to ensure that in communities under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority, all non-speakers of Welsh who wish to do so shall be enabled to learn Welsh without delay.

4.8 In communities not under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority, the Welsh Assembly Government shall guarantee the normal and official use of both Welsh and English, and shall create the conditions to allow growth in usage of the Welsh language to the point where Welsh and English have full equality with respect to the rights and duties of the permanent residents of the communities concerned.

4.9 A duty is hereby laid upon the Welsh Assembly Government to achieve, within two generations (that is, by the year 2055), a state of affairs whereby every permanent resident of Wales, in communities not under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority, is guaranteed the right and ability to conduct all aspects of his or her daily life either through the medium of both Welsh and English, or entirely through the medium of one only of those two languages, as he or she may wish.

4.10 A duty is hereby laid upon the Welsh Assembly Government to achieve, by the year 2015, a state of affairs whereby every permanent or temporary resident of Wales, in communities not under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority, is guaranteed the right to receive all services — public, private or voluntary — in either Welsh or English without recourse to translation or interpreting services.

4.11 A duty is hereby laid on the Welsh Assembly Government to achieve, within one generation (that is, by the year 2030), a state of affairs whereby every permanent or temporary resident of Wales, in communities not under the jurisdiction of the Welsh HeartlandsAuthority, is guaranteed the right to deal with, and demand information
from, the judiciary, all public authorities, all commercial or otherwise privately-run organisations, and all voluntary organisations, in either Welsh or English, as and when he or she may wish, without the need to submit a translation.

4.12 A duty is hereby laid on the Welsh Assembly Government to achieve, within one generation (that is, by the year 2030), a state of affairs whereby, in communities not under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority, and in order to be able to supply the services referred to in paragraph 4.11 above, every public official is required to show genuine proficiency in both Welsh and English when entering
public service.

4.13 The term ‘permanent resident’ as used in paragraphs 4.5 and 4.7 to 4.11 above, shall signify any individual whose main residence, or main workplace, or main geographical area of work, has been located, or is likely to be located, in Wales for a period of one year or more, whether or not the period of residence or work is continuous.

4.14 Recognising that any policy which:

i. rendered it in any way more difficult for any person to use the Welsh language in the communities under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Heartlands Authority, or to use
either of the official languages of Wales in areas not under the jurisdiction of that Authority; or

ii. enabled any person to evade the duty laid down in paragraph 4.5 above would constitute an unacceptable obstacle to the achievement of the aims and principles set out in paragraphs 4.3 to 4.5 and 4.7 to 4.12 above, the provisions of paragraphs 4.3 to 4.5 and 4.7 to 4.12 above shall not be overridden by the provisions of policies, including equal opportunity policies, in any other field.

Colonization, Colonialism and Anti-colonialism – the ethical basis for ‘Cymuned’.

Tim Webb moved to Wales from England in 1975, learnt Welsh and now lives in Bethesda, a Welsh-speaking community in Gwynedd. He has been active in community language politics for many years and was one of the authors of the Welsh Language Society’s policy document on a Property Act. The Act advocated that the housing stock in Wales ought to be accountable to community need rather than capitalist speculation.

In the discussion paper below, he discusses the theoretical background to Cymuned in terms of anti-colonialism and anti-colonization.

The Background

When I first came to live in Wales in 1975, large areas of the country were solidly Welsh-speaking. I have seen Welsh-speaking communities being increasingly eroded over the last 27 years, and there is no doubt in my mind that the main reason for this is colonization.

In-migration and colonization – what is the difference?

The main problem is colonization, not in-migration. There is nothing wrong with in- migration as such. There has always been some migration into Wales (like other countries) for various reasons, as the surnames of many Welsh-speakers testify. In-migration can enrich a language, culture, communities and nation, as long as migrants are absorbed into the native language and culture whilst adding to them
and enriching them. Colonization, on the other hand, destroys and replaces languages, cultures, communities and nations rather than enriching them.

However, in-migration can turn into colonization due to three factors (or a combination of them):

(a) If incomers have a negative attitude to the native language and culture, and don’t want to be absorbed. This can be a deliberate policy (as in North and South America, Australia, Africa etc.), or the result of ignorance and prejudice on the part of incomers (underlain by the ideology of colonialism – see below). Such attitudes are particularly likely if incomers are from a comparatively powerful, rich and populous
country with a strong and confident language and culture (e.g. English), whilst the natives are less powerful, poorer, less numerous and lacking confidence, and their language and culture are weak and/or of low status (e.g. Welsh). For example, a B.B.C. survey carried out in 2001 indicated that 66% of non-Welsh speaking incomers to Welsh-speaking areas do not feel under any obligation to learn Welsh.

(b) Even if attitudes are positive, in-migration becomes colonization if communities (especially in thinly-populated rural areas) receive incomers in greater numbers than can be absorbed. For example, it has been shown that in schools, the language of play changes when the proportion of native Welsh-speakers falls much below 70%. This
means that incomers assimilate the natives, and communities change their language and character (especially if natives are out-migrating at same time).

(c) If the natives are forced out of their communities and land. This can of course happen by killing/genocide or by eviction/ethnic cleansing (e.g North and South America, the ‘plantations’ in Ireland, Armenia, Bosnia, Kosovo); but in Wales it is being done by raising house prices and rents out of reach of the natives, and also by the economy being mismanaged in such a way that there is no suitable work for many of them.

All three of these factors – negative attitudes, numbers too great, pushing the natives out – are in operation in Welsh-speaking areas of Wales today. This shows clearly that colonization is taking place, and as a result, Welsh-speaking communities and the Welsh language, culture and identity are in a struggle for their very existence.

(Although plenty of Welsh people migrate to England, they do no colonize: they do not refuse to learn and speak English; they do not settle in such large numbers that they absorb the natives; and they do not raise house prices and push the natives out. They are immigrants, not colonists.)

What’s wrong with colonization?

Isn’t it inevitable that non Welsh-speakers will colonize rural Wales, and that the natives will be anglicized or move away? Are we not creating unnecessary friction and bad-feeling by opposing this?

On the contrary, it seems to me that we all have a duty to oppose colonization, for two reasons:

(a) These rural and semi-rural areas are the only places where Welsh is the majority language and the natural language of the community. Without them, Welsh will be a minority language everywhere, and will have no future; it may be gaining ground in the south-east, but these gains will not last without the ‘Heartlands’ as an anchor.

(b) What is happening is fundamentally unjust. Colonization is immoral – it is a form of theft – stealing a language, culture, community, land, country and identity not only from individuals but from a people and nation. Its end result is ethnocide, the destruction of a nation, which is a crime not only against that nation but against humanity, since it destroys part of the heritage of everyone in the world.

Ideology – Colonialism and Anti-colonialism

Colonization is not a natural and inevitable historical process, but is the result of an ideology – Colonialism. This is the ideology which claims that some nations, languages and cultures are superior to others, thereby giving them the right to colonize the territory of ‘inferior’ nations. (Colonialism is often closely linked to racism, since most
colonizers have been white and most colonized people outside Europe black.)

However, there is an alternative ideology, namely the opposite to colonialism – anti-colonialism. This is the ideology which states that all nations, languages, cultures (and races) are equal; and that every nation has right to exist in its own communities and territory without being colonized by others. (Anti-colonialism is therefore also
anti-racist).

This is not a conflict between two nations, Welsh and English, but between two ideologies – colonialism and anti-colonialism. It is a matter of principle, whatever our origin or native language; and it is not just about Wales, but about basic justice for all ethnic groups and nations facing colonialism and colonization.

Is Anti-colonialism racist?

No, it is not, for two reasons:

(a) Although the word race is often used loosely to mean a nation or ethnic, cultural or linguistic group, it is more correctly used to mean a group of people distinguished by their physical characteristics (especially skin colour). Race on the one hand and
nationality/ethnic group on the other are not the same: it is possible to adopt a new language and culture, but it is not possible to change the colour of your skin. There is no racial difference between white Welsh people (whether Welsh-speaking or therwise) and white English people; the difference is linguistic and cultural, not racial (that is, you cannot tell the difference by looking at them).

(b) Racism is a form of oppression which discriminates on the basis of race (i.e. physical characteristics) rather than (or in addition to) on the basis of nationality, language and culture, and is founded on the idea that white people are superior to others. Racism and colonialism tend to go hand-in-hand, because white people have colonized (and are still colonizing) the countries of black people. Opposing such colonization is not racist but Anti-racist and Anti-colonialist; and the same applies in Wales.

(I am not saying that there is no racism in Wales; if white Welsh people, Welsh-speaking or otherwise, or white English people or anyone else, oppress people of any language or nationality on the basis of their skin colour, that is racism. But it is totally incorrect to describe opposition to colonization, or colonization itself, nor animosity, prejudice or even hatred towards either Welsh or English – however unacceptable – as
racism.)

Is Anti-colonialism anti-English?

No, it is not. Anti-colonialism respects all nations and considers them equal, but maintains that no nation has the right to colonize another’s land; it is therefore pro-Welsh and also pro-English. Colonialism on the other hand is not only anti-Welsh but also anti-English, because:

(a) Colonization is a crime against another nation and against humanity, and like all crimes, it demeans and harms the offender. Colonization has demeaned the English nation for centuries and is still doing so. Those who support, encourage and justify colonization are therefore demeaning and doing great harm to England and the English people.

(b) Many English people and people of English origin are not and do not want to be colonists or colonialists. Colonialism, and those who encourage and support colonization, are not only an insult to non-colonialist English people (like myself); they also discredit and shame the whole English nation. Colonialists are anti-English (as well as anti-Welsh).

Conclusion

Defending Welsh-speaking communities against colonization and colonialism is ethically correct and the moral duty of all those who care about justice and fairness, whatever their origin or native language.

In March 2002, Cymuned held a public meeting in Penzance, Cornwall with local pressure group Cornish Solidarity and an Independent Councillor on Cornwall County Council, Mark Kaczmarek.

The meeting was initiated by Cymuned with a view to building alliances with other regions of Britain that face a similar crisis of in-migration, with its connected phenomenon of unaffordable house prices, to Wales.

Cornwall is a classic example of this. It has a strong local culture, different to the British norm, that is threatened by population shifts of in and out-migration that are not culturally sustainable.

It is a low-wage economy, with only 66% of EU average GDP, has Objective One status, and is dependent to a very large extent on agriculture and tourism. It is also very beautiful and thus a honey-pot to those who wish to move to live to the countryside. In short, it has exactly the same sort of socio-economic problems as rural Wales.

Cymuned is determined to build alliances with people in other regions of rural Britain. Cornwall is the beginning of our strategy. We must not allow our political enemies to portray the fight for the future of Welsh-speaking communities as one that is inward-looking and introvert. By standing shoulder-to-shoulder with people from other parts of Britain, we can show that we are fighting for a principle the
right of local people to have housing, and the right of an indigenous culture to
survive.

The Cornwall meeting was attended by about 50 local people and will lead, we hope, to other meetings in Cornwall that address the housing crisis. At the beginning of the meeting, the Chair read a letter addressed to Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, the meeting’s Cornish organiser, from Malcolm Williams, a Plymouth academic, on the causes and possible answers to the rural housing crisis.

Dear Rhisiart,

I am sorry not to be able to attend this important and potentially very useful meeting.
Cornwall has suffered an affordability crisis in housing since the early 1980s and is the result of a decline in available rented properties in the public and private sector and a dramatic increase in the price of property in relation to local earnings.

In December 2001 the average price of a terraced house in Cornwall was £81,435, an increase in the past 12 months alone of 11 per cent. Wages and GDP have been stagnant or falling for five years. Mean earnings are £16,425, however this figure averages all earnings and 42 per cent earned less than £13,000. Ten per cent earned less than £8,750. A multiplier of 1.5 of mean earnings is used to calculate affordability. Without a deposit this will yield a mortgage level of £73,912, a shortfall of £7,500. This is seen by most analysts as widely optimistic in Cornwall.

To begin with the distribution of earnings is skewed and most people earn nowhere near the mean wage, moreover 55 per cent of households have either no wage earners or just one. For those seeking to rent affordable housing the situation is grim with an affordabiluty level for the lowest decile of earners at £58 per week.

Private sector lettings at that price are virtually non existent and many of the very poorest do not qualify for priority status on housing waiting lists. In particular young single people and couples without children find it all but impossible to begin an independent housing career.

Local councils in Cornwall are very aware of this situation and given their resources have done excellent work to mitigate the crisis. All are committed to affordable housing policies and Penwith, remarkably, has suceeded in slightly reducing its waiting list – though as I said, the waiting list underpresents the housing crisis. Unfortunately current legislation and funding regimes mean the problem cannot be tackled from a housing perspective and even if it could the capital resources required would be enormous and would amount to an affordability building programe the size of that in the 1950s in Cornwall.

The housing crisis has been caused by the intersection of a number of socio-economic effects:

General economic decline, particularly in traditional industries since 1980.
Cessation of public housing programmes in the same decade (the 1990s were slightly better).
Population growth due to in migration.
The operation of an external housing market.

The situation has been very complex and at the risk of over simplification it can be summed up in this way. Since the 1960s Cornwall’s population has increased by one third as a result of tourist led in migration. During this period economic restructuring has replaced jobs in extractive, agricultural and manufacturing industry by jobs in the service sector. Although there has been an increase in jobs created, these are more likely to be seasonal, low paid, part time or unstable. Moreover the jobs created have not kept pace with growth in the labour market. Consequently Cornwall has become a low wage economy.

There are other low wage economies, but in these house prices are roughly commensurate with income and the housing market is in balance. In Cornwall there is an external market whereby in migrants can compete at a much higher level than non migrants and in many cases are able to enjoy the advantage of selling property elsewhere at a higher rate and buying in Cornwall at a lower rate (often for a larger property). Moreover in migrants, though still in the labour market, are further on in their housing careers and are much more likely to be home owners and own outright than non-migrants.

Added to this there is little market incentive for landlords to offer non holiday lets when they can do much better in the tourist industry. Cornwall is in a double bind. If economic performance improves, wages increase and unemployment falls, then in migration rises. This has happened consistently in the last 30 years. This pushes up house prices. If the economy does not improve performance then local people cannot compete in the housing market anyway and moreover house prices may increase independently of Cornish economic performance, because they are much more a function of house prices in the South East of England.

What is to be done? The DETR answer is to build more houses, but unless these are affordable housing, they will simply serve to widen participation in the housing market by in migrants, whilst doing very little for non migrants.

There are only two kinds of solution.

A housing led intervention strategy which builds or purchases properties for rent. This would have to be combined with schemes such as rents to mortgage. There is some indication that there may be some moves in this direction, not because of the Cornish crisis, but because (ironically) an affordability crisis is developing in the South East [of England]. A new DETR paper on precisely this topic was published this week:

http://www.planning.dtlr.gov.uk/dahtpp/index.htm

An economic led intervention. This would require a great deal more political will and will only come about when and if Cornwall is able to win more economic and planning control – possibly through a regional assembly. Such a strategy is complex but would require a huge training investment in the local workforce to make them more competitive over in migrants; a medium scale ‘growth point’ economic policy (to an extent already in Objective One); positive discrimination policies for residents in jobs and public housing; A link between housing and employment, similar to those ommon in industrial towns in the first half of the 20th century.

I have not mentioned holiday homes, a source of great irritation. In particular localities these are an enormous social problem, but overall in Cornwall we do not know the size of the non occupied stock. Estimates from Census data are unreliable, but in my view holiday and second homes are less of a problem than in migration. Indeed second homes and holiday homes are hardly a problem at all amongst the ‘cheaper’ terraced housing stock of the larger towns. Most of the holiday/second
home stock would only be affordable to those well established in their housing careers.

I hope this brief over view of the problem is of some help and interest to your discussion today. I particularly hope that that there might be a fruitful exchange of ideas between Cornish representatives and those from other Celtic countries.

Lowena dhys,
Malcolm Williams
Principal Lecturer in Sociology, University of Plymouth.
Malcolm Williams,
Department of Sociology,
University of Plymouth,
Drake Circus,
Plymouth PL4 8AA UK