Llongyfarchiadau i'r Toriaid
Postiwyd: Llun Ion 23, 2006 12:44 pmMae agwedd y Toriaid tuag at yr iaith Gymraeg wedi bod yn llawer iachach nag agwedd y Blaid Lafur yn ddiweddar. Gweler y datganiad i'r wasg isod ynglyn a dadl lleiafrifol Lisa Francis AM yfory. Yn ogystal, bydd Lisa Francis AM yn siarad yng nghyfarfod Cymdeithas yr Iaith nos fory am yr angen am Ddeddf Iaith Newydd.
Da iawn.
Da iawn.
Press Release - January 23rd, 2006
LABOUR PAYS LIP-SERVICE TO THE WELSH LANGUAGE
WELSH Conservatives will tomorrow accuse Labour of paying lip-service to the future of the Welsh language.
The party will blame the Assembly Government for failing to back up "warm words and aspirations" with adequate support and delivery targets following publication of the Iaith Pawb strategy.
The Welsh Conservatives' spokeswoman on the Welsh language, Lisa Francis AM, has accused Culture Minister Alun Pugh of "woolly aspiration" and of lacking the ideas and commitment to encourage greater use of the language.
Iaith Pawb (Everybody's Language) is the Assembly Government's national action plan for a bilingual Wales.
But in a Welsh Conservative-led debate in the National Assembly tomorrow, the party will claim that Labour ministers have failed to make significant progress or give adequate support to promoting the aims of the strategy.
It comes amid continuing concern over the politicisation of the language when the Welsh Language Board is abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the Assembly Government.
And it follows unprecedented and inflammatory comments by an Assembly Government spokesperson last week on proposals from the Welsh Language Board for an independent regulator to monitor the rights of Welsh language speakers in the public sector.
Mid and West Wales AM Ms Francis said the Culture Minister's annual report on the Welsh language had become a "superficial exercise" which highlighted a frustrating lack of progress in delivering on the Iaith Pawb aims.
She added that one way to achieve mainstreaming of the language is to ensure Welsh language issues are factored into policy development and services across all parts of the Assembly Government.
Lisa Francis AM said:
"The minister may offer warm words and aspirations for the Welsh language but to date we have had precious little in the way of delivery.
"Welsh Conservatives are extremely frustrated at the lack of progress and robust proposals to take forward the aims of the Iaith Pawb strategy.
"The principle ambition of this strategy is to create a bilingual Wales, yet there have been few signs the minister intends to work towards that aim or even understands the issues involved in achieving it. This is becoming something of a habit with the minister.
"The creation of the Welsh Language Board took the Welsh language out of a fraught political arena.
"I fear that by abolishing the board and transferring its responsibilities to the Assembly Government Labour risks turning our language into a political football.
"Iaith Pawb has given us the opportunity to look in detail at language issues and at ways of ensuring progress in creating a bilingual nation over the long term.
"It is an opportunity the minister should grasp with both hands."
ENDS
NOTE TO EDITORS
* The Welsh Conservatives' motion for tomorrow's debate reads:
* To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
Expresses concern that the Welsh Assembly Government has failed to make significant progress and give adequate support to promoting the aims of Iaith Pawb.
