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Guardian bashed over ‘Wales is part of England’ claim

04 May 2020 2 minute read
Picture by Pixabay

The Guardian newspaper has been criticised for claiming that Wales “is officially part of England”.

The newspaper ran a ‘travel picture quiz‘ on its site which included the question ‘Why isn’t Wales represented on the Union Jack?’

Despite offering three alternatives the correct answer according to the Guardian was: “Because officially it is part of England”.

The first version of the Union Jack was designed after 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones, thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland. Wales wasn’t considered a separate entity to England at the time.

The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542 had formally incorporated Wales into the kingdom of England, and ended the existence of the principality of Wales.

However, acts of Parliament did for centuries recognise Wales’ individual national identity, one of the most notable being the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881.

The Welsh Language Act of 1967 repealed the Wales and Berwick Act of 1746 that declared the legal term of England to include Wales. Since then, the term for laws applied south of Scotland was changed from “the laws of England” to “the laws of England and Wales”.

Since 1999 Wales has had its own Assembly – now Parliament – and Government, and was officially recognised as a country in December 2011 by the influential International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

 

‘Fed up’

The Guardian’s quiz blooper attracted an angry response on social media, with Lewis ab Alyn asking: “What the hell is this Guardian? Wales isn’t ‘officially a part of England’ – sort yourselves out! Afiach.

“It doesn’t take much for a massive news outlet to fact check such an obvious thing.”

The European Celt added: “I admire the Guardian for its straight forward and factual journalism. But recently they have allowed way too much Welsh-bashing. Getting rather fed up tbh.”


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Iwan
Iwan
4 years ago

Also, Ibelieve that it’s only called the Union Jack when it’s flown on a vessel (boat, ship etc) otherwise its the Union Flag! 😂
#pedantic

Philip Hughes
Philip Hughes
4 years ago
Reply to  Iwan

Yes, but I always call it the union jacket anyway, it annoys unionists

Gwylon Phillips
Gwylon Phillips
4 years ago
Reply to  Iwan

Iwan – who cares?

Reuben
Reuben
4 years ago
Reply to  Iwan

That’s incorrect and a bit of an urban myth

Gtg
Gtg
4 years ago
Reply to  Reuben

What’s an urban myth

Sara Louise Wheeler
Sara Louise Wheeler
4 years ago
Reply to  Iwan

😂👌🏻

CHRIS
CHRIS
4 years ago

I refer to it as the Butchers Apron

Gareth Gravell
Gareth Gravell
4 years ago

Absutely no more Guardian for me. Getting more like The Scum😠😠

John Ellis
John Ellis
4 years ago

Bit of a let-down there, given that the ‘Guardian’ has always liked to portray itself itself as the enlightened thinking man’s journal of choice!

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  John Ellis

“Postured” I think rather than “portray”. It’s Unionist to the core so the mask is bound to slip.

John Ellis
John Ellis
4 years ago
Reply to  Huw Davies

I did say ‘portray itself’! 😉

Jessica Willis
Jessica Willis
4 years ago

To clarify, as certain facts have been conveniently missed out. The Laws of Wales Act 1535 and 1542 was actually the formal annexation of Wales, and since this time a referendum still has not been allowed for the Welsh people to provide any formal consent to this, so essentially still to this day Wales is part of the UK without any formal democratic consent.

Geoff Evans
Geoff Evans
4 years ago
Reply to  Jessica Willis

The only reason Cymru is in the subservient position it finds itself today is because of invasion, violence and conquest by the English State. There is nothing legitimate in governance by force and intimidation. If Cymru was annexed by English Law back in 1536 – 1542, there is no reason why any Welsh person should take heed of such flagrant criminality. As with any other nation under colonial rule, it should be the duty of those citizens to resist tyranny, liberate their country and re-establish a legitimate government.

John Ellis
John Ellis
4 years ago
Reply to  Geoff Evans

In its relationship to the English state the history of Wales is essentially similar ti the history of Ireland, and over the same period of time. But – at least in the last century or so – the response here has been different from the response there.

Annwyn Lewis
Annwyn Lewis
4 years ago
Reply to  John Ellis

Only because some have the balls and some don’t. However we have a Language Act, Welsh schools, more speakers, a Welsh Bible, and equal opportunities to work, unlike tge Catholics that the English tried to eradicate. They didn’t need to eradicate the Protestants as they had already sworn allegiance to the Queen. Because we became Protestant after having a Welsh Bible from Queen Elizabeth the first to stop us joining forces with the Catholic Scots, French and Irish, our allegiance was effectively given too and so we suffered much much less then the Irish in subsequent years.

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Annwyn Lewis

A catholic. sometimes a small old church has me beating down the resentment. Oh well.

Danny.
Danny.
4 years ago
Reply to  Jessica Willis

What was 1979 then?

Richard LONGUES
Richard LONGUES
4 years ago

We will be a free nation again !!
RHYDDYD !!
CYMRU AM BYTH !!

Andrew John Teague
Andrew John Teague
4 years ago

Should those who are responsible for designing flags of nations, ( in this case a group of nations ), wish to, they could incorporate the standard of St David, to represent Cymru and even perhaps the standard of the patron saint of Kerno. I have worked on such a composition for what it’s worth.

Carol Loughlin
Carol Loughlin
4 years ago

Why not a silhouette dragon in the centre of St George’s cross?

SelFelin
SelFelin
4 years ago
Reply to  Carol Loughlin

No!!

Annwyn Lewis
Annwyn Lewis
4 years ago

I’d rather stay off it if I’m honest and keep the Dragon and gain independence.

SelFelin
SelFelin
4 years ago

As a Welshman, I would HATE the idea of my country being incorporated into that blood stained rag!

Welsh_Sion
Welsh_Sion
4 years ago

In point of fact, Westminster abolished the Laws in Wales Acts, 1535-1542 (aka ‘The Acts of Union/Annexation’) by virtue of Schedule 2 of the Welsh Language Act 1993 (and subsequent delegated legislation made thereunder) – before Devolution in 1997.

Consequently, I hold that we are no longer in ‘union’ with England – and she should learn to stand on her own two feet.

Cofion,

Mathew Rees
Mathew Rees
4 years ago

Wales is part of the Kingdom of England if you take Scotland and NI away.

Jason Evans
Jason Evans
4 years ago
Reply to  Mathew Rees

Showing you lack of knowledge there boy, have a look at Martyn Vaughan’s answer

Phil
Phil
4 years ago

Only yesterday I complained to a company as the map it had. showed England and Scotland separate but no mention of wales But instead had England and wales Highlighted in the same colour with England name stretched from West Wales to Suffolk . The company has since changed its map..but this once again shows the contempt people have for Wales Until our own MP s .Am s and our own people start shouting loud enough we will never rid ourselves of ” for Wales see England “context .if this was Scotland Nicola sturgeon would be up in arms yet mark… Read more »

MattR
MattR
4 years ago
Reply to  Phil

Do you still have a link or picture of this map?

Phil
Phil
4 years ago
Reply to  MattR

Hi Matt R it was on www leboat .co.uk river cruises for England the image has now been changed and just shows England rather than Wales incorporated into England

Welsh_Sion
Welsh_Sion
4 years ago
Reply to  Phil

Phil/MattR

The map is indeed replaced.

But … if you use Google Images and search for UK map, leboat you will see the ‘ghost’ of the previous image. England extends from Llŷn to East Yorkshire …

And note their publicity pictures feature England (Oxford), Scotland, Ireland, and a smattering of EU countries – but NOT Cymru.

Cofion,

Martyn Vaughan
4 years ago

Technically both are components of an entity known as “Englandandwales”.
Under this interpretation, England doesn’t exist either.

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago
Reply to  Martyn Vaughan

Walesandengland.

Welsh_Sion
Welsh_Sion
4 years ago

Somebody in Guardian Towers is stalking us.

The ‘correct answer’ now (I don’t know when it was changed) reads:

Because historically it was part of England
Wales became a part of the Kingdom of England when it was annexed in 1282. It was fully integrated by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, and was therefore represented by the flag of England when the union flag was created in 1606. Though today, Wales is a separate country.

Philip Stusrt
Philip Stusrt
4 years ago
Reply to  Welsh_Sion

Is this not good that they are willing to learn and correct their mistake?

Jonathan Gammond
Jonathan Gammond
4 years ago

James VI and I may have been keen on his Union Jack and Great Britain but both ideas went down like a dish of cold $%#$ with the English and Scottish Parliaments. That continued to be the case until 1707.

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
4 years ago

This why we need a strong Welsh media – our voice as a nation must be heard loud and clear to finally drown out any more racist dialogue coming from across the border.

Plain citizen
Plain citizen
4 years ago

If you want slapdash ‘woke’ trendy journalism where feelings not facts and emotion not evidence are the vital components the Guardian is one of the best.

Ceri
Ceri
4 years ago

I love England, I love Cymru. I’m not a fan of ‘EnglandandWales’ for a multitude of reasons. Many people who agree with the notion of separating our nations, many with a deep-seated love for our culture and language also believe the factoid that Cymru is a part of the kingdom of England. Fine, your not right, but fine! It isn’t so much that The Guardian got the facts wrong (AGAIN) but why they got it wrong (about Wales…AGAIN). There is a difference of perspective. ‘English’ refers to their geographical identity, ‘British’ is their cultural identity. The inverse is the case,… Read more »

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