Minister's 'snub' to the Welsh Language
Monday, April 16, 2007

Staying with the Welsh language theme today, it's interesting to note which Labour candidates have submitted English-only registrations for the forthcoming national assembly elections.

There's plenty of talk in Cardiff Bay of a nationalist/unionist split in the Labour party. And this may become all the more pronounced after the election as the end of Rhodri Morgan's tenure as leader grows ever closer. While Carwyn Jones, perhaps unbeknownst to himself, heads up the nationalist wing, the two AMs widely considered the stalwarts of the unionist camp are Leighton Andrews and Andrew Davies.

So it's intriguing to discover that Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies has not submitted a bilingual registration for the May 3rd ballot, unlike most of his colleagues up and down the country who will stand on a 'Labour Party/Y Blaid Lafur' ticket.

Unfortunately, the Rhondda Electoral Office does not publish its list of candidates online, so at the time of writing it's not possible to tell if Leighton Andrews has overlooked the Welsh language in a similar fashion. What's certain is that for Andrew Davies there's no going back; nominations are now closed. And with pundits already pointing to his Swansea West constituency as a possible upset he'll be kicking himself if voters, when staring at this monolingual appearance on the ballot paper, decide that's enough to swing their vote.
Andrew Davies' name as it appears on the official Swansea West ballot.


 The more common bilingual format, as used by Edwina Hart in the Gower.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 1:47 pm,

22 Comments:

At 2:08 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's certain is that for Andrew Davies there's no going back; nominations are now closed. And with pundits already pointing to his Swansea West constituency as a possible upset he'll be kicking himself if voters, when staring at this monolingual appearance on the ballot paper, decide that's enough to swing their vote.
[Photo] Andrew Davies' name as it appears on the official Swansea West ballot.


Who gives a toss? Except for language facists like you.

Christ, this blog has gone down hill so much. Arsembly has stolen your crown.

 
At 2:17 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Who gives a toss? Except for language facists like you.

Christ, this blog has gone down hill so much. Arsembly has stolen your crown."


Says a lot about you Anon.

 
At 2:27 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There's plenty of talk in Cardiff Bay of a nationalist/unionist split in the Labour party.

Good. And we'd all be better off if this split became permanent.

 
At 2:33 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now I see them... the 'language fascists' for what they are: English language extremists obsessed with a sort of internally-directed xenophobia, thick and nasty to boot.
Anon, no wonder you;re keeping your real name out - the BNP will be will be sending you a membership form.
Ive got to say this: Ive live din Wales for less that 10 years, but Ive seen few better examples of really vicious stupidity and (self-) deceit than those of the anti-Welsh, Anglo-loony contingent. Nothing I've seen from Welsh-language activists comes close to the sheer brutish brainlessness of that bunch.
PS - you are Welsh Labour supporter by any chance?
Dave Rodway

 
At 2:45 pm, Blogger Che Grav-ara said...

Do you think Martin Eaglestone will be running to the Western Mail to attack Andrew Davies for not making an effort for the Welsh language? Me thinks the political opportunist wont be quite so vocal about this!

 
At 3:02 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

"Who gives a toss? Except for language facists like you."

That's a new one. Hehe.

"Do you think Martin Eaglestone will be running to the Western Mail to attack Andrew Davies for not making an effort for the Welsh language?"

I do hope so. Consistency is the least we should expect from politicians:)

Oh, and Dave, you might as well accuse anon of being Lib Dem, Tory and Plaid while you're at it. Just for the sake of balance...

It's a lively old hoo-ha today isn't it? Keep 'em coming.

 
At 3:26 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am certainly nto a labour supporter. I voted Plaid last time and may well do this time. Like Jocelyn Davies, I just can't pretend that I give a fuck about minor detail when it comes to the Welsh language.

I think their are language facists in all parties - and none. They need to get a life, and some perspective.

This blog has got so boring. It is not in tune with the people. I bet Arsembly gets 10 times your hits.

If this is the most exciting psot you can come up with, it shows you a re really struggling.

 
At 3:34 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

"If this is the most exciting psot you can come up with, it shows you a re really struggling."

I don't see a link to your astoundingly captivating blog anywhere...

if you don't like it you can go and do a better job yourself.

Send me an email when you're done and I'll come and shit all over your virtual carpet:)

 
At 3:36 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If this is the most exciting psot you can come up with, it shows you a re really struggling.


No one's forcing you to be here.

 
At 4:28 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Methinks Arsembly is doing a bit of self-advertising.

 
At 4:34 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

"Robin Goodfellow said...
Methinks Arsembly is doing a bit of self-advertising."

lol!

No comment.

What I would say, though, is that today has been a record day on the blog. I've already had over a hundred more unique hits today than ever before. So with the exception of anon. (whoever he/she is:)) thank you all for reading.

 
At 4:38 pm, Blogger Che Grav-ara said...

to be honest i thought it was a very interesting post...if not simply for the fact you did a bit of digging. Not many people would have thought about the issue. it is especially apt given matrin eglestones recent attacks. Still if the anons (arsembly's alter ego's) want to read personal and unfounded attacks then great. It appears to me that you may have upset him by not giving him a link to your blog!

 
At 4:49 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As we are splitting hairs I don't suppose you would know that, coming from the Merthyr, that there is no 'the' before Gower, when Gower is the objective of the sentence. Thus 'he lives on Gower' is correct, but so is 'he lives on the Gower peninsular'. I hope your sister is better versed in these important considerations seeing as she wants to represent the place.

 
At 4:55 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

"As we are splitting hairs I don't suppose you would know that, coming from the Merthyr, that there is no 'the' before Gower, when Gower is the objective of the sentence."

hehe. It did read "the Gower constituency" but I deleted constituency because it demanded a line all of its own and I didn't like the look of it.

Thanks for the English lesson. I'll correct it when I get a chance.

Cheers.

 
At 5:04 pm, Blogger Marcusian said...

Blamerbell Briefs is the best welsh blog for honest factual welsh political news...

He also owns a coat like Richard E. Grant's character in Withnail and I...that makes him cool in my eyes. I think what he does is far harder to do than Arsembly does, even though i enjoy Arsembly.

 
At 5:49 pm, Blogger Wynne Jones said...

Why is it that Cymraeg-bashers like Anon speak such bad English?

 
At 6:06 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

what about Plaid's trick of mentioning issues in the name: 'Plaid Cymru - Save the Hospitals' and all that? Someone told me that this means the Welsh is left out.

Which would piss me off to be honest. Gimmicks over substance again. I may be wrong though.

As for the anonymous post which asked "who gives a toss?" - if you can't see that leaving out one of Wales' two languages off the voting slip is a mistake, you're an idiot.

Post diddorol, Blamerbell.

 
At 7:03 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have to agree with previous comments, Blamer. If that is the best you can do then Arse is winning your little derby.

To think that Andrew Davies' seat will be affected by him filling in a form in his first language is myopic.

It is anoraks and Plaid members who think consitutional issues and bilingual signage is the bread and butter of politics.

Bilingualism enriches us all, but tokenism is transparent.

 
At 7:16 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

"Post diddorol, Blamerbell."

Diolch!

"what about Plaid's trick of mentioning issues in the name: 'Plaid Cymru - Save the Hospitals' and all that? Someone told me that this means the Welsh is left out."

Not as far as I've seen. Although with the two languages they do tend to take up half the ballot paper...

"To think that Andrew Davies' seat will be affected by him filling in a form in his first language is myopic. "

Don't tell me you don't believe that every vote counts. If it's going to be close then you'll regret every little mistake. That's all I'm saying.

The thing about Plaid is that they are a very fragile coalition of nationalists and socialists. And many who would consider voting for them are themselves finely balanced between nationalist and socialist ideals. If you are umming and aahing and staring at the ballot paper, which box do you cross in that split second?

That's why the hospital slogans are such a big issue. It appeals to that momentary impulse that could make a HUGE difference. As a floating voter I know this very well. As a Labour voter, you evidently don't.

 
At 7:27 pm, Blogger Deleted said...

Given that it's hard enough to drag voters to put a cross on the ballot in the first place, are there that many who will even notice the missing Welsh?

 
At 9:48 pm, Blogger Ian said...

Can't you be a socialist and a Welsh nationalist? I certainly hope so because I'm one, as well as an internationalist. I can't see Andrew Davies losing his seat over a monolingual nomination but I was a little surprised that the Tory candidate went monolingual, as he is a Welsh speaker.

If I do beat Andrew Davies on May 3rd, I would hope that issues other than his nomination paper would be responsible

pob hwyl,

Ian

 
At 10:10 pm, Blogger Blamerbell said...

"Given that it's hard enough to drag voters to put a cross on the ballot in the first place, are there that many who will even notice the missing Welsh?"

It depends if the Welsh language in general is an issue for you. I suspect if it is, then it's something you might notice.

"Can't you be a socialist and a Welsh nationalist?"

Why, of course. But you can also be passionate about one and ambivalent about the other.

Surely nobody in Plaid Cymru would deny that there are a number of people in the party who are more nationalists than socialists and vice versa.

You can also be a right winger and a nationalist, which is what I guess the likes of Glyn Davies and Dylan JE are tapping into.

 

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