What a sinful waste of cash (From South Wales Argus)
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What a sinful waste of cash
4:14pm Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in Letters
I WOULD like to know why the Labour administration in Cardiff Bay sees fit to spend huge amounts of tax-payers’ money on the archaic Welsh language that is spoken by such a small minority of the Welsh population.
S4C alone receives over £100 million of taxpayers’ grants, with their highest-rated show pulling just a handful of viewers. Surely if there was any sort of demand it would be self- supporting, being able to generate revenue through advertising? £5 million given to authors to write Welsh books, £25,000 to produce a Welsh phone app which was downloaded by just 1,000 people, £313,000 of voting papers for the police commissioner elections simply tipped in the bin because they were not bilingual at a time when street lights in Newport are being turned off and libraries shut to save a few pounds.
Books nobody wants to read, apps nobody wants to download and TV channels nobody wants to watch. I have written to my MP, Jessica Morden, to ask how she justifies this when the city she claims to represent is in a shocking state, she sent a reply saying she could not answer and has referred my letter to John Griffiths, AM, a month has gone past and I am still awaiting an answer, but then again, how can you defend the indefensible?
Chris Bradley Caerleon Road Newport
Comments(9)
displayed
says...
6:45pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Then they broadcast their reports of what is happening in North Wales as the important thing in the country!
They set up Welsh speaking S4C where again most (if not all) of the staff and presenters are educated (indoctrinated) in the ways of the Welsh language and culture!
Its not even coals to Newcastle Emlyn!
It gives people the wrong impression of the country.
It is not a Welsh speaking country or culture!
Stop perpetuating the myth!
Iawn!
On the inside
says...
6:50pm Wed 23 Jan 13
The answer to your question is simple but it is clear you have not understood. When we last had an election most people in Wales chose party's that did NOT oppose supporting the Welsh language.
Next time around you now know what to do don't you.
p.s. Good luck because I don't think you will find a party that will commit to dropping all support for the Welsh language so I suppose your only option is to move out of Wales.
scraptheWAG
says...
6:54pm Wed 23 Jan 13
Mervyn James
says...
9:20am Thu 24 Jan 13
The law offers universal protection and support to minority languages in the UK, including Urdu, Bengali, polish, Italian, German, and we spent as the Argus reported recently 800,000 pounds via a local police area to do just that. Ban one, ban all, that's the problem, you can't do it. Human Rights.
We're multicultural geddit ? you can't pick and choose which language should be supported.
Bobevans
says...
9:43am Thu 24 Jan 13
Only today the English NHS has been ordered to delay treating Welsh patients as apparently they were treating them to quickly. Teey have now been asked to treat them to the much less demanding Welsh NHS waiting list
Failure to comply is that the English NHS will not be paid for trreating these patients
The letter says that if cases are considered "clinically urgent" then English hospitals would need to obtain "prior approval" from WHSSC before proceeding with treatment.
It adds: "This is a significant initiative for NHS Wales and therefore failure to comply with the above will result in non-payment."
http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/uk-wales-21172
535
Llanmartinangel
says...
10:04am Thu 24 Jan 13
Mervyn James wrote:I don't understand the first part of that post. Are you saying that, if the money being spent on Welsh (and admit it, it is a massive amount), became available for other things, no-one would benefit? Also, access is one thing, compulsion is something else entirely. Leaving aside the argument for duplication of every document, there is no justification for S4C whatsoever when the viewing numbers speak for themselves. And as for quoting the Human Rights act to justify the existence of an extortionately expensive institution like S4C, don't make me laugh.
Obviously I don't agree, this subject always deteriorates into abuse anyway. There is no proof whatever if they scrapped welsh language access, ANY Improvement would be apparent. AS it is enshrined in British law you aren't wasting your time anyway. What nobody here is seeing,is that if you succeed, then this allows ANY language used in Wales to suffer the same fate,but hold on, it doesn't.
The law offers universal protection and support to minority languages in the UK, including Urdu, Bengali, polish, Italian, German, and we spent as the Argus reported recently 800,000 pounds via a local police area to do just that. Ban one, ban all, that's the problem, you can't do it. Human Rights.
We're multicultural geddit ? you can't pick and choose which language should be supported.
Mervyn James
says...
4:41pm Thu 24 Jan 13
Bobevans wrote:Usage is relative it is USED so access must be there,when it is not used that's different,just because you or a 1,000 others don't is irrelevant, I don't speak Urdu myself, I doubt if I can ask for a ban on it because of that.
So you regard a Lnguage that is hardly used is more importent than the NHS?
Only today the English NHS has been ordered to delay treating Welsh patients as apparently they were treating them to quickly. Teey have now been asked to treat them to the much less demanding Welsh NHS waiting list
Failure to comply is that the English NHS will not be paid for trreating these patients
The letter says that if cases are considered "clinically urgent" then English hospitals would need to obtain "prior approval" from WHSSC before proceeding with treatment.
It adds: "This is a significant initiative for NHS Wales and therefore failure to comply with the above will result in non-payment."
http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/uk-wales-21172
535
The NHS in Wales is under attack from everywhere and with just cause it is going down the Swansea river, and less than 3rd world operational. . They too try to divert attention away from failings to blame something else, Welsh is everyone's aunt sally, let's blame them. I think they are all running out of excuses frankly, roads, Mali, Afghanistan, utility services, government, benefits, holidays, airport purchases, the ailing NHS, Newport city centre shops closing, bumps in the road, poor or no lighting, the price of cheddar, it is all laid at the door of the welsh language, it's ludicrous really.
Llanmartinangel
says...
7:53am Fri 25 Jan 13
I love the way you invent things people didn't say Mervyn. I've not seen anyone ask for a ban, just a proportionate approach to funding rather than the current ideology which seems to endorse outrageous excess.
Let WelshDai says...
6:10pm Wed 23 Jan 13
It's time those of us ( the overwhelming majority) who share this view express it more forcefully to all politicians including those at Westminster who saddled us with the Junta in the Bay