Former First Minister Carwyn Jones criticises Telegraph over ‘racist’ use of ‘welshing’ in an article

The former First Minister, Carwyn Jones has criticised the Telegraph newspaper after they used the term “welshing” in an article.

The article by Brexiteer Daniel Hannan said that Britain was “welshing” on part of its Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.

‘Welshing,’ according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means to fail to honour a promise or agreement “on account of alleged dishonesty of Welsh people”.

Carwyn Jones said it was “utterly disgraceful” that the Telegraph has used “racist language”.

“‘Welshing’ has long been seen as a racial stereotype,” he said. “Will there be Irish jokes in the paper next?

“[It has] its origin in suggesting that Welsh people are unreliable, dishonest and will fail to honour their debts. ‘Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief,’ was one another gem.”

‘Offensive’

The use of ‘welshing’ also attracted the ire of Plaid Cymru MS Leanne Wood who said that “grown-ups don’t use terms like this anymore. Have a word with yourselves, Telegraph.”

Novelist Julie Owen Moylan also took to social media to condemn the use as “deeply fucking offensive”.

Neither the Telegraph or Daniel Hannan have so far responded to the comments.

Daniel Hannan was a Member of the European Parliament for South East England from 1999 until the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU in 2020.