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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Welsh Language)

This important debate has attracted much interest throughout Wales, as is evidenced by the welcome presence in the Public Gallery of representatives of the Welsh press and broadcast media. What a wonderful contribution that was from the hon. Member for Newport, West. He enunciated what we are talking about today. We are talking about a living language, not about what R. S. Thomas described as the product of ““an impotent people, sick with inbreeding, worrying the carcase of an old song.”” Welsh is a living language that, I am proud to say, the Conservative party has done much to advance over the past few years. My noble Friend Lord Roberts of Conwy has probably done more for the Welsh language over the past few decades than any other living person. I refer to him frequently as the greatest living Welshman, much to his embarrassment. It is a tribute to the work of the Welsh Affairs Committee that we have got where we are today. I remember graphically the early days of the LCO process, when members of the Select Committee were being bombarded by e-mails from all quarters suggesting that we were about to delay the process of the draft order. It is a tribute to the Chairman of that Committee that we were not diverted by noises off but did the work that we were delegated to do with great seriousness and a good result. The recommendations of the Select Committee were sound and sensible, and I am delighted that the Secretary of State has paid close attention to them. I also pay tribute to the Secretary of State himself for listening so carefully to what the Select Committee had to say, for consulting further, and for coming up with what appear to be sensible proposals to address the issues identified by the Committee. I remain of the view that it would have been even more satisfactory if this Grand Committee had had the opportunity to consider the proposals that the Secretary of State intends to put forward. Nevertheless, I again pay tribute to him for giving all Welsh Members the opportunity to debate the findings of the Select Committee in this Grand Committee. The hon. Member for Aberavon referred to the well-known and increasingly used Welsh adage ““heb waith, dim iaith””—without work, there is no language. I think that it is vital that, when considering the proposal, we have close regard to the likely economic impact of any order on Wales, particularly at what is clearly a fragile time for the country. If the Welsh language is to be developed—as we all want it to be—it is essential that that is not to the disbenefit of the Welsh economy. The Welsh language should be something that is used unselfconsciously and as a matter of choice. It should not be something that is politicised or thrust down people’s throats. I am glad to say that that is the message coming through the Select Committee’s report which, again, appears to have been accepted by the Secretary of State. I would like to consider several aspects of the Secretary of State’s report. A number of matters of concern remain, and as he has been kind enough to say that the deliberations of this Committee will also inform his decision on the final form of the order. I hope that he will take into account what I have to say, and that his colleague, the Under-Secretary of State, will respond to points made in his concluding remarks. The Secretary of State has quite rightly excluded shops from the ambit of the proposed LCO. As the hon. Member for Caernarfon pointed out, small retail businesses are the backbone of the Welsh economy. Nothing should be done to make it more difficult for individuals to set themselves up in the retail business. The Secretary of State said that there were two exceptions to the exclusion, one of which was ticket sales and timetables for bus and railway services. However, the more significant issue is post office counter services. That matter was raised by the hon. Member for Carmarthen, West and South Pembrokeshire. I took it up in an intervention on the Secretary of State, and it troubles me greatly. Last year, some 2,500 post offices were closed throughout the UK. Small sub-post offices are finding it increasingly difficult to operate. In my constituency, and probably in the whole of north Wales, there was only one survivor of the post office closure programme: the post office at Cerrigydrudion. A huge rally of the people of Cerrigydrudion persuaded the Post Office authorities that it would be stupid to close that office, which is operated by a pair of monoglot English speakers, as are many other post offices throughout Wales. If any barrier were put in the way of such people opening post offices in Wales, we might find that post offices such as that in Cerrigydrudion, which are rightly valued by their communities, would shut, not because of any closure programme but quite simply because it would prove impossible to find any individuals to run them. That is an extreme problem with the Secretary of State’s proposals. I know that he has not decided on the final form of the LCO, so I entreat him to take account of that concern, which is clearly shared by his colleague the hon. Member for Carmarthen, West and South Pembrokeshire.