Tuesday 9 January 2018

BBC stirring the Anti-Cymraeg shit again.

The BBC seem to be  stirring over the use of the Welsh Language  again.

In a report over claims by campaign group   Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg that just 12% of assembly debate since May 2016 election had been in Welsh. The Beeb managed to shift the concerns to a title on their Web and Red button 

 Persuade not force people to use Welsh 

It concentrates on First Minister Carwyn Jones making claims that People need to be persuaded to speak Welsh, not forced, t after his government was urged to set a better example.


Carwyn Jones told BBC Radio Cymru he thought a question should be answered in the language it was asked. 

He then made the rat Bizarre claim that said most voters in his Bridgend seat did not speak Welsh and he needed to communicate directly with them.

Is our First Minister claiming that he largely speaks in English in the National Assembly in order to address the constituents of  Bridgend?

Does Theresa May  speak in the House of Commons to do directly speak to voters in Maidenhead or Nicola Sturgeon Glasgow Southside?


Cymdeithas based its claim on a count of the number of words spoken in Welsh and English during plenary sessions in the main assembly chamber, taken from the official record of proceedings

It praised Plaid Cymru AM Sian Gwenllian for using the language 99% of the time, and her Plaid colleague Elin Jones - the presiding officer - using it 84% of the time.

Mr Jones - another fluent Welsh speaker - was criticised by the group for using Welsh just 10% of the time.
The campaigners also noted that the use of Welsh by former Plaid Cymru leader Lord Elis-Thomas had dropped from 95% in 2015 to 73 percent since the 2016 election, during which time he quit his party and later became a Welsh Government minister

Cymdeithas spokesman Osian Rhys said ministers could make "much more use" of the Welsh language.
"It seems to be common practice, or policy, of ministers to make the majority of their speeches in English and to answer English questions in English even though there is simultaneous translation available at all times," he said.
"If the civil service is not providing enough support to prepare speeches and answers in Welsh, there needs to be leadership from the top."
A Welsh Government spokesman said: 

"Half of Welsh Government Ministers speak Welsh and use it on a regular basis in the chamber and when carrying out government business."

So why  the limited use of Cymraeg.

The obvious answer is that they believe they will get greater media coverage if they speak in English and maybe the BBC English media and others will not show speeches on their News coverage if it is being translated from Welsh.

Indeed I find myself wondering when was the last time the BBC news media showed a major contribution  to a debate that was made in Welsh and simultaneously translated?

At times you can almost hear the sighs of a News Editor covering the Assembly and  a AM dares to speak what is often their first language.

But my main issue in this article is that there was nothing in  Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg call for AMs to use Welsh, about forcing only in a ludicrous defence  by the First Minister.

But once again the BBC uses a legitimate  concern  over the use status of the Welsh Language to have headlines about "forcing people to use it".

You can only wonder if there some one in a senior position there, who relishes stirring any news that involves the future of one of the languages of our nation?





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