British singer Carol Decker under fire for suggesting Welsh is a ‘foreign language’
The British singer Carol Decker has come under fire for suggesting that Welsh is a “foreign language”.
The lead vocalist for band T’Pau was reacting to a social media post that blamed Brexit for empty shelves in supermarkets when she hit out at what she called “capricious and divisive troublemaking”.
The image, which featured mocked up signs, including one which called Brexit supporters “thick”, also had real Welsh language signage in the background.
Welsh has been spoken in Britain since before English existed as a language, and Decker was criticised for her “ignorance”.
Decker, whose group had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK during the late 1980s and early 1990s, took issue with the Welsh language signage, saying: said: “I expanded that supermarket picture tweet and the aisle signs are in a foreign language It’s not a UK supermarket! What capricious and divisive troublemaking.”
@Iromg I expanded that supermarket picture tweet and the aisle signs are in a foreign language It’s not a UK supermarket !What capricious and divisive troublemaking
— carol decker (@caroldecker) July 29, 2021
Her post was retweeted by TalkRADIO host Mike Graham.
In response to criticism Decker said: “Forgive me for not being fluent in Welsh you sarcastic c***”
Golwg columnist Cris Dafis said: “Duh. What ignorance. It’s Welsh, Carol. In Wales.”
Bev Owen said: “It’s Wales Carol. You come from just over the border, must have seen a lot of Welsh/English dual signage in your time!”
Christopher Clarke said: “Indeed, some vandals have painted ‘araf’ on all the roads around there for some reason.”
Claire said: “The aisle signs are in Welsh… Pretty sure Wales is in the UK.”
Carol Decker replied: “I don’t speak Welsh”.
David Llewellyn said: “Cymraeg. Welsh. The original language of Sir Anywthig (sic) or Shropshire and still spoken around Croesoswallt/Oswestry. And you don’t recognise it. Stunning ignorance.”
Alun Jones said: “Look Carol’s capricious and divisive troublemaking.”
Janice Mercer Edwards said: “Oh dear, slight faux pas here. Have a look at the map of the UK, you’ll find Wales there somewhere!”
‘Voted for Brexit’
The original image was shared by columnist Tim Walker, and it featured messages, which included: “If you voted for Brexit. You can f*** off out of here.
“You thick t***s. You probably voted Conservative huh?
“Brexit caused this. All other COVID affected countries have plenty of stock.
“If you did not vote for this we are truly sorry.”
Welsh Labour MP Chris Bryant came under fire for sharing the post, which he later apologised for an removed.
He said: “My profound apologies, I hadn’t spotted the appalling language and removed my RT, again I apologise.”
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Ignorant Brexiteer says something ignorant. Surely not.
Don’t tar all leavers with the same brush! 😉
Some of us voted out because we’re from the “great unwashed left” 🙂… and, shh, whisper it, to damage the “UK”… “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s (and Wales’ and Scotland’s) opportunity” and all that! 🇮🇪🏴🏴
Seriously?
That’s kind of like cutting off your face to spite your nose.
How do you reckon that Dafaid? Damaging the “UK” state is not the same as damaging the composite parts of it. Or is that a little too deep for you to work out? 🤣
No need to be aggressive bud.
Damage done to the UK in general is very definitely damage done to each of the constituent countries.
The damage done to Wales was always likely to be greater than the damage done to England. To put it in a fictitious 2016 quote, “Why did Wales vote to leave? They stood to lose out far worse than us”.
If you think being part of the “UK” is a good thing, then voting leave to damage the “UK” is shooting yourself in the foot.
If you, on the other hand, think the “UK” is an inherently and irredeemably bad thing, then voting leave to damage the “UK”, and therefore push the constituent parts further down the road to liberation from it, is a sensible option.
The really gas thing is most Remainers love the “UK”… and they would have us believe they’re left wing and anti-racist. 🤣
Yeah fair enough. But ironically a lot of leavers were happy to tar all Europeans with the same brush.
Damaging UKBIN I have no issue with, but in the meantime our opportunity feels the same as England’s difficulty, just with added hatred coming from UKBIN Govt
Eh? We’re all Europeans, regardless of whether we’re in, or want to be in, the EU or not. And I, myself, don’t tar Remainers with the brush the establishment wants to paint them with. In fact, rather than left, I see Remainers as staunchly right wing (the EU is a right wing cartel which makes socialism within it impossible) and instead of anti-racist, I see them as deeply xenophobic (the EU provides a myriad of rights to people which it steadfastly denies to others based entirely on, almost exclusively white, birthright). In terms of damaging the “UK”… the EU referendum… Read more »
A fact of which you are aware. But not a subtlety many other leavers seem to realise I have found. The general political dialogue since about 2010 has been polarised, dualistic and childish. Vernalisations are the rule not the exception I have found (excepting when one is talking about one’s own “side”). Nuance is dead and generalisation is both stupid and ignorant. Yet that is why we are where we are. Any sociological demographic contains a spectrum of views but group responsibility dictates that if we subscribe to a “side” we own partial responsibility for enabling the actions of every… Read more »
Undoubtedly true a lot of people voted leave barely raising their knuckles from dragging on the ground to mark their X.
I just see the EU as locking in capitalism and forming a white boys club. I’ve an Irish, therefore EU, passport. I can go and live in other European countries at the drop of a hat whilst others who desperately need to get to them can’t. Different experiences simply because of the fluke of birth. Imo that’s racist.
It is nice to encounter someone who shares many of my thoughts on the EU. I can’t understand how the fundamental freedoms of the EU, such as freedom of movement of labour and freedom of movement of capital, have become reimagined as left wing ideals when they are patently pro-capitalist. There is the peculiar contradiction of beliefs going on: defending the honour of private companies from those racists who want to cut them off from cheaper workers tolerant of worse conditions etc. I’m sure you’ve noticed plenty of your own. Then there is the fawning love these socialists often have… Read more »
Any major political figure consistently on the left, Tony Benn being a good example but there are plenty of others, have been resolutely anti-EU.
None of those countries “opted out” of the EU. Greenland is not a part of Europe and is not Skandi anyway and the tiny Faroe Islands is a dependency of Denmark with a population equivalent to a small British town. Norway and Iceland are in the EEA.
I suppose you pant when you drive through Pant…
No he checks to see if he’s wearing his … or hers !
She’s a singer…… what makes her opinions or comments outside the music world of any particular import? As for Brexit my opinion is as valid as hers and my opinion is that the whole bloody mess is only just beginning…..even now finding quality foodstuffs is harder by the day and we brought it on ourselves. After the shortages will come the price rises….. not something that will worry the Johnson gang of course.
“….even now finding quality foodstuffs is harder by the day” Then start buying more local stuff. I appreciate that certain foodstuffs are not readily accessible due to the big mess around imports but we in Wales are just as guilty as them over the border of ignoring home produce. If I never see cheese from France again, or bacon from Denmark or NL I won’t lose any sleep as we have the agri sector that can produce a wide range of top quality foods. The farmers need the support of the Welsh and British public not all sorts of government… Read more »
My (far) better half fed me from things grown in the back garden yesterday. Can’t get more local than that. But there ARE still noticeable shortages in every supermarket near me (and we’re on the M4 corridor. A gentleman in retail logistics told me that the driver shortage has been around since late 2020 and was only exacerbated by pingageddon. Because most of the foreign drivers went home as per the Brexiteers’ demanded. (But because govt legislation made it uneconomical for them to drive in UKBIN). They knew what they were voting for. Not sure why they voted for food… Read more »
Regrettably even with wartime efforts at self sufficiency Britain couldn’t feed itself, the 20% shortfall is what the U-boat war was all about. Having said that an agricultural nation with a Circa 3million population might cope better with import problems…. but it would be at a price. I’d like nothing better than to buy Welsh produce but would a captive market allow that to be affordable to the non millionaire?
“captive market” is a term that is not helpful. Stable market is more appropriate. That market could extend across the 3 nations at least, and 4 if N.Ireland remained separate from the Republic. There is huge untapped capacity within these islands but we need to get consumers onside and the retail sector especially the large corporate beasts need to have a major reorientation. Selling faddy foods is all well and good but so much of that stuff travels huge miles to market and is fashion driven. Importing will continue but we can sustain ourselves far more efficiently and effectively if… Read more »
This is an attitude I like very much, positive patriotism.
I’m still looking for home grown pineapples, oranges, apples and olive oil.
Apples? Now that says something.
Try harder Philip – my last sentence – “Importing will continue ….”
As for apples again try harder and you will find orchards still trading and supplying apples you can actually taste.
Hers isn’t valid at all because it is based entirely on emotion and involves no facts.
Just as a reminder Wales sided with England on leaving, much to my dismay. Scotland and NI voted to remain. There was a lot of blue on the political map of Wales at that time. We actually helped Brexit to happen so let’s contemplate that with heads down. Turkeys/Christmas??
Welsh is indeed a foreign language if you’re outside Wales… so with that in mind, you won’t have a problem with quitting your occupation of it, hmm?
Welsh is not a foreign language outside Wales in the rest of Britain. The earliest Welsh literature comes from the north of England/southern Scotland (yr Hen Ogledd) Welsh is still spoken in the Oswestry area. Welsh belongs the heritage of Britain as a whole.
I don’t care about so-called “Britain”. The sooner “Britain” breaks up, the better. And in any case, I’m pretty sure Greek is considered a foreign language in Istanbul these days.
This is true but I think the time for a reconquest has past us by, and it is now a matter for the inhabitants of England as to whether they acknowledge the Brythonic history of their land.
That and many Celts, myself included, see the idea of “Britishness” as being wholly negative and reactionary.
Trying to claim parts of England and Scotland as Welsh is about as sane as those irredentist Greek lunatics who envision a triumphant return to “Constantinople”.
Going down the DNA route (sorry if it brings out the fascists who love a good genetic thread). But the 2005 Oppenheimer Oxford study which attempted to determine amongs other things the ancient origins of the British found very little DNA common in Saxons, Romans, Normans, Vikings in the “British” genome. A maximum of 5% each. (There were a few small exceptions I will omit for brevity). This indicated there was never a mass migration of any of those peoples and that the English are merely the Britons of Lloegr who over time adopted Saxon customs because Saxons had replaced… Read more »
That’s interesting. Although DNA testing does seem to be able to separate out Celts from the English. That said, culturally, imo, much of northern England is very Celtic. Compare, for example, Liverpool or Manchester with “darn sarth” and it is very clear you are dealing with people with a different outlook. It’s a primary reason why I, despite being a traditional (the media would call me a “dissident”) Irish Republican, I have absolutely no problem with wanting the English rugby league team to do well whereas seeing their union and football team beaten pleases me. Some of those people getting… Read more »
I don’t think the DNA can unequivocally identify Celt from Saxon, but there’s a high degree of probability based on empirical testing of known populations ash surviving viable ancient DNA. But at the moment, margins for error are still high and Celts particularly is quite an amorphous term. In fact the Oxford test identified that the Britons are pre-Celtic. They came to our isle (and perhaps yours) after the mini ice age, before the sinking of doggerland. on another note, is that right about the Stormfront goons and the milk? We can only hope that they are so racially purist… Read more »
Yeah. It’s a big thing the milk gig. They take their tops off, down gallons of milk, film themselves whilst doing it and upload the videos. I’m not sure for definite that it’s the Stormfront website it’s on (I have no interest in visiting such drivel) but it’s definitely a big thing on fash forums.
Personally, I think the best response to it is the scene of Joey Tribbiani also doing it (though not for racist reasons)…
So the whole point is to find out if they are lactose intolerant? Presumably if they are not lactose intolerant then they assume they must be of pure European ancestry because they assume (wrongly) that no other cultures in the world have ever consumed dairy and therefore must be lactose intolerant. The bare chest thing must be some sort of macho bullsh!t posturing, either that or they don’t want to spill milk on their clothes in which case they could try wearing an apron. I remember an episode of Man versus Food when the presenter threw up after attempting to… Read more »
One theory I’ve seen about the ancestry of the first settlers of Britain and Ireland, (the people who built Stonehenge – the bluestone circle was originally built in West Wales – and Newgrange in Ireland) is that they originated from the Iberian peninsular. They were able to colonise Britain and Ireland after the retreat of the ice sheets by travelling by sea – up the coast of France, crossing over to Cornwall and on up the Irish Sea to colonise Wales and Ireland. They continued by sea up the west coast and islands of Scotland and went on to build… Read more »
As interesting as this is to the history of the peoples Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England I think we have to be very careful about going down the DNA route. Identity should be about language and culture not DNA, otherwise we risk going down the route of ‘racial purity’ bullsh!t. Sorry if I’m stating the obvious (and I think both #1Chris and Alan Reilly would agree with me on this one) but we end up excluding minority ethnic groups who would otherwise identify as Welsh, Irish, Scottish, English etc. Personally I strongly identify as Welsh but I am partly of… Read more »
Welsh was spoken in Britain way before the English language was invented. It was one of the original languages of the british isles. The only reason it is now called Welsh is because the ancient britons were driven west to Wales by the invading Saxons.
This also means that technically the Welsh are the only ones who are truly
british.
Not sure whether she was being mischievous or in a bad mood but she used to live in Wales and was originally signed to Rockfield Records. I remember when the Monmouth Beacon reported on her “now famous rendition of River High Mountain Deep” which raised a giggle.
Nice one!
It is English that is the Foreign language both in Wales and Scotland.
The oppressor has rewritten history to suit himself. They do it all the time. Sick of it but it helps the cause for Yes Cymru or Indie Scotland. It’s also helping the cause for Irish unity at the moment too. Fe ddaw ein dydd! Tiocfaidh ar lá.
Carol Decker’s anti-Wales comment is pure unadulterated bigotry and ignorance. A psychiatrist would have a field day probing the cause of her prejudice.
Too much powder up her snout, no doubt !
I don’t think this is worth the effort of anger. She made a mistake, a silly one but a mistake nonetheless. I’m sure she feels embarrassed.
A swift “oops my mistake, sorry Wales” would have made it all go away. She chose a different more stubborn way. No sympathy
One might have expected more from a Vulcan high priestess…add a Dragon’s penis and a punk swastika T-shirt and it has been just another day on N.C
But Welsh IS a foreign language – if you’re speaking as an English person, French, Chinese person etc. Any language not your own native language is ‘foreign’. However Wales is (regrettably) in the UK.
I used to like Carol Decker,now i’m not so sure.She is not an immortal artist like Ezra Pound or Meic Stevens is she.
One hit wonder with a song about holding crockery I believe
A ginger tosser who has one song from about 35 years ago. Relevant, she ain’t.