New Reform councillor opposes Farage’s pledge to axe Welsh language target

Martin Shipton

Reform UK’s recently elected councillor on Ynys Mon has come out against Nigel Farage’s pledge to scrap the Welsh Government’s target to have one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Speaking to the Welsh language website Golwg, Celfyn Furlong said he would keep the target.

He added: “Welsh is the language I use every day. When you go to the doctor and can speak Welsh, it’s much nicer.” He said he was unaware that Farage had pledged to scrap it on account of targets being ‘meaningless’.

In June 2025 Farage announced that Labour’s one million Welsh speakers by 2050 target would be abolished by a Reformt Welsh Government.

In a video posted to X, Clacton MP Farage said: “Tell me a single government target that ever gets met?

“I’m bored with government targets – we are going to half this, double that.

“None of them ever get met. So encourage the language, yes by all means. Put out meaningless targets? I can’t frankly see the point of it.

“We’ve had decades of this, new governments, governments half way through.

“Targets, targets, targets. Not a single one being met – and no one believes them anyway.”

Sharing the clip, Reform Wales said: “Just 17.8% of people in Wales speak Welsh, down from 19% a decade ago.

“The Welsh Government should protect the language but it’s time to drop unrealistic targets.

“Let’s back practical support, not fantasy goals. The Welsh language should be encouraged, not forced.”

The Welsh Government’s ‘Cymraeg 2050’ strategy has a target of one million Welsh speakers by the year 2050 – along with a doubling of the daily use of the language by then.

The goal is part of the government’s broader plan to increase the use of the Welsh language and promote its vitality.

Welsh language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith says that by pledging to scrap Welsh language targets, Reform is pledging to “oppose accountability”.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Chair, Joseff Gnagbo, said at the time: “Reform hasn’t announced any proposals or policies regarding the Welsh language, our communities or culture, and are only interested in abolishing the target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

“Targets like this mean that organisations such as the Government can be pressured to reach them and can be held accountable.

“Opposing targets is like opposing accountability – exactly what parties like this want. They clearly have no interest in the Welsh language or our communities and there is no room for parties like this in Wales.”

He added: “Welsh is Wales’ own language, and everyone has the right to speak it. This isn’t a matter of encouraging or forcing the Welsh language, but of creating conditions for it to be a community language that people can use every day, and of normalising it.

“That is why we are calling for the Welsh Language Measure to be used to its full extent by introducing Standards in all possible areas, and expanding the Welsh Language Measure to include private sector bodies, such as banks and supermarkets, etc.

“We’re also calling for the creation of areas of higher density linguistic significance in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, so that local authorities can put specific policies in place to protect and restore the Welsh language as a community language.

“We encourage all parties to adopt these calls and to implement them following next year’s election.”

Political issue

Concern over the decline in the number of people who can speak the language has been a key political issue in Wales for decades.

The 2021 census showed the lowest proportion of Welsh speakers ever.

It’s estimated that around 538,000 people (17.8% of the population) in Wales can speak Welsh compared to 562,000 in 2011 (19% of the population).

A 2024 YouGov poll found that two-thirds of people approve of efforts to increase the language’s usage.

Nation.Cymru left a message for Cllr Furlong, who won a seat previously held by Plaid Cymru, but he did not return our call.