Many people have written blogs on the recent Western Mail editorial about the '£400k cost' to translate certain Assembly sessions into Welsh (ranging from the BBC's Betsan Powys to the Independent's Rob Williams)that I had no intention of even trying to compete with that sort of cerebral might!
However, I have been compelled to pen a few words about one aspect of the argument -the constant theme that we can put Welsh translation or the use of Welsh on hold whilst we battle through these austere times.
It came up today in Paul Murphy MP's response to the Western Mail article and last week, when the BMA pretty much suggested the same.
They all seem to be using the word 'park'. That we should 'park' the spend on democratic documents in Welsh until austerity is over. Or that we should 'park' the growth of the use of Welsh in the NHS until we're feeling a bit more flush.
It all sounds like a car park attendant shuffling motors in the rush hour. 'Yeah, that's it, park your Welsh over there mate, next to German and Swedish -don't be leaving scratches on that German now.'
Truth is, you can't park a language. It is a living thing with an engine that wants to go forward and it doesn't like staying in one place.
Thankfully (at the moment) Welsh is not a language in reverse, it is in at least 3rd gear. If we stop public documents being written in the language, we restrict the growth of the language. New words will not be logged, there will be no records of debates in our democracy, people will not be able to be entertained/supported etc.
What's the point in learning a language if you are told that the amount of content you can use in that language is restricted?
What happened if we stopped publishing everything in English tomorrow - I mean everything from The Beano to Hansard (aren't they the same thing?!). Eventually, English would die as a living language. Not tomorrow, not even in 50 years -but eventually.
It would become as useful as Latin -great for grammar lessons, but precious little application in modern life.
So, in short -all of the hard work everyone in Wales (and beyond) has done to make Welsh an everyday language again would be lost if we restricted the amount of material in the language under the lame excuse of austerity.
Also, I have seen many examples where the Welsh Language has CREATED jobs in Wales, not lost them. Why wouldn't we want to add to that?
Yes, these are bloody hard times for many living below the poverty line in Wales. And, yes, I have never experienced poverty like that..so who the hell am I to say these things? But, we are being told a lot by Labour MPs in Westminster that to get us out of these tough times, we need to spend - and not cut. This is an example of exactly that.
Let's all keep the car on the motorway (or the A55 for my friends in the North), not park it up in some lay-by to gather rust.
PS - Note to the Western Mail. If you had just suggested finding ways of lowering the £400k cost and not suggested scrapping the service altogether, you would have won over far more friends (including me). But, as a Radio Wales phone-in caller named Richard from Bridgend said, you knew exactly what you were doing when you phrased it the way you did...it was a direct desire to get more attention. The cheapest marketing campaign Trinity Mirror has run in years!
Here endeth the lesson
