In fact, is there a dragon ...

... anywhere in Wales, a docile dragon for Heledd Fychan and her boss Bethan Jenkins.

Where is the fire and brimstone remembered by the old folk, tales of the chapel and 5 hour sermons; we have become secular in Wales, except when there is a chance TV appearance on Songs of Praise with Aled Jones.  The days when the poor pregnant unmarried girl would be chastised in public, in front of the whole congregation are long gone.  So no dragon here .....


We have the Catalan kid of course, but his is more a desperate appeal to the disparate of Wales, building theoretical castles amongst the clouds surrounding Snowdon;  No dragons here, though I can imagine conversations in the snug of a pub in the Northern Plaid heartlands, or maybe the geography is wrong and it is the Cardiff smart set, cymraig naturally.


Do we have a dragon in the borough of Caerphilly I wonder, Ron Davies might be a candidate, though on reflection ... first the Labour Party, then it was "Forward Wales" followed by a stint as an independent, and finally he jumps into bed ( rhetorically speaking ) with Plaid to get a thrashing at the Assembly elections; formally Secretary of State for Wales he was once called the architect of devolution in Wales, nothing to be proud of and certainly not a dragon, except in a moment of maddness.

We remain dragon deficient except possibly on match night when tens of thousand of fans descend on Cardiff breathing fire and brimstone ........... here be the dragons ........... until they get home when they morph from dragon into the family pet some call dad.

Modified following a comment left at my migration blog.

I wonder, does the dragon have two tongues ...

... or might it have a forked tongue.  You can decide for yourself, read it here.

The essence of the article is, I believe ...

If people want to write in Welsh, then they are welcome to do so providing they spend another hour at the end translating it into English. Furthermore, some people were concerned that they were being excluded from the debate, and that whilst it is fine for people to speak Welsh, if they want to write about an issue of national importance, it is their duty to do so in English so that everyone can understand. Even if, it seems, that the article in question is about the Welsh language channel, S4C!
These comments angered me. But, rather than just arguing with people on twitter about it, I wanted to widen the debate so that we have the opportunity to discuss maturely why some people felt so aggrieved by our decision to publish something in Welsh.
Being bilingual, and having the right to use both my languages as I like is important to me. Welsh is my first language, and I find it extremely offensive if people suggest that I don’t have the right to use it as I wish in my own country. It is an integral part of me. I think in Welsh. I dream in Welsh. I write my diary and write my daily to-do list in Welsh. I’m not trying to be difficult, awkward, stubborn or offensive. I’m not trying to exclude you or take a stance. I’m simply being me. I express myself better in Welsh, and feel more comfortable speaking in Welsh rather than in English.

penned by Heledd Fychan who chairs Plaid Cymru's research group

Is she correct, is it unreasonable to expect an English translation of Welsh language contributions to a blog such as Wales Home, of course it is unreasonable, but the contribution is not authored by Heledd Fychan, we are discussing a paper written and signed off by Bethan Jenkins, a Welsh Assembly politician, concerning an organisation with a budget of £100 million of British taxpayers money, such objections that I have made are very reasonable.

I believe the staff of Bethan Jenkins have protested too much, the public were initially excluded from the conversation at Wales Home, and the proof rests with the Plaid Cymru website where both versions are available.  If Bethan Jenkins and her staff were truly inclusive in this matter they would have waited until both Plaid Cymru versions were complete and then offered the contribution for publishing at the Wales Home website so that everyone was included, unless of course it wasn't meant to be inclusive. 

Peter Hain and Heledd Fychan, two sides of ...

... the same coin, and that coin is Political Wales.

I'm not a fan of Peter Hain, in fact there is little I like about him, except when he voices the opinions of the general public, the electorate, "le grand public".

And today he hit the button concerning the electoral system in Wales, in particular the recent debate about the "Alternative Vote" and "First Past The Post", I voted during the referendum for AV, but my neighbours voted for FPTP and won the contest, democracy in action, Hain believes our Assembly election method should be brought into line with the referendum outcome.

It seems that our electoral boundaries will change to accommodate the smaller number of MPs suggested by the government, 30 in total, the numbers are perfect when you considfer we have double the number of AMs, a total of 60.  So there is the option to have enlarged Assembly constituencies with two representatives, all elected using FPTP, I wonder why it hasn't been thought about before.

What would be the outcome if  Hain puts his point of view and the Secretary of State Cheryl Gillan agree, first it seems a further referendum would not be necessary, so changes to our future elections could happen in time for the next Assembly election.

Will there be opposition from the current batch at the Welsh Assembly, not enough, the Labour Party will undoubtedly be winners, but only as a reflection of how electorate vote, at the last election they would have commanded two thirds of the seats without a doubt, the Conservatives are far more comfortable with FPTP, so the proposal will get support from there, particularly if Hain can get cross party support at Westminster.  The other two will complain to the people of Wales, the Liberal Democrats are a lost cause in Wales, we preferred their radical Liberal traditions of the past, Peter Black can be radical but is constantly in the shadow of his leader, Plaid Cymru and its "Separatist Agenda" will return to the dark corners where the political destitute reside, probably to fade away during the next couple of generations, so no matter how vocal its support are they will not gain an inch.

And Heledd Fychan, the other face of Wales political coin, read her here, all I wanted was to take part in the conversation about S4C and £100 million of taxpayers funding ........ there are many others who might wish to contribute to those things that are important to society.

Update ....

After discovering that the Bethan Jenkins post at WalesHome had been published the same day on the Plaid Cymru website I left a further comment ...

July 14, 2011 at 10:01 am

Browsing the Plaid Cymru website I note the article in question was published in English and Welsh 11/07/2011 …
http://www.english.plaidcymru.org/the-slate/2011/07/11/a-revolution-needed-in-s4c/ for the English version,
http://www.plaidcymru.org/llechen/2011/07/11/angen-chwyldro-yn-s4c/ for the Cymraeg version
… the very same day it was published here.
I would be very surprised if Plaid Cymru had not published the contribution by Bethan Jenkins simultaneously in English and Welsh, it is not the way Plaid Cymru operates …

... and for a blast from a very real past, Julian Ruck.