Tories attack Welsh Government over Queen’s Diamond Jubilee book
The Welsh Conservatives have attacked the government after it confirmed schools in Wales will be allowed to decide whether they want to opt in receive a history book about the Queen, published to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.
In February the Westminster Government announced it planned to send every school child in Wales the “patriotic” book so that they and other children across the UK develop a “collective understanding” about the history of her time on the throne.
The contract awarded to DK books notes that 211,000 copies of a bilingual version of the book will be sent to pupils in 1,290 schools and other educational establishments in Wales.
But the Welsh Government told Nation.Cymru the decision on distributing the book in Wales, which will cost £12m to produce, would be up to Education Minister Jeremy Miles.
Petulant
Responding to his decision to allow schools to decide if they wish to distribute the book, Welsh Conservative Shadow Education Minister Laura Anne Jones MS said: “This is a bilingual, educational book about our dutiful, long-serving Head of State. It is utterly petulant for the Labour Government to refuse its universal distribution.
“This book is about teaching the next generation about how our country functions and its history. The only reason Labour would not want children to have them is because they believe it is not in its interest for them to take pride in British institutions and the UK’s past.
“Of course, it might also be down to Mark Drakeford being a republican who would rather not have The Queen at all. Either way, it’s Labour that needs to go back to school and learn how to govern.”
The contract agreed with published DK Books includes a clause that the books must be delivered to at least 99.5% of schools in Wales by 11 July 2022.
Patriotic
The book contract says that the supplier will provide a book “written with the aim of being inclusive, patriotic and ‘speaking to all children’ with regard to all regions of the UK”.
The Queen became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne, on 6 February this year.
Celebrations will culminate in a four day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June.
A Platinum Jubilee Celebration on 12th -15th May will also see over 500 horses and 1,000 performers create a 90-minute piece of arena theatre.
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There’s only one person being petulant here sorry Laura.
What a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Personally I wouldn’t give a stuff what the Welsh Tories think as they are totally irrelevant, but how about putting one copy in each school’s library and seeing if even one child bothers to take it out? If they want to know about the Queen they only need Google her.
Apparently it’s educational? I expect Laura Jones MS is wondering what the people of Jamaica and Belize were protesting about as well.
So desperate to force their opinions on others.
Every day some new pathetic, cringy performative outrage just to virtue signal their disdain for devolution, their obsequiousness, authoritarianism, and competitive bootlicking credentials.
As the internet would say “Dude, she’s not going to [blank] you.”
ok ok ! For goodness sake! if you’re so insistent, give us the books…..but on one condition – we don’t use them until November 5th….
Clearly an expensive propaganda exercise! As a child of the Fifties I have strong memories of the constant deluge of British Empire propaganda bestowed on us daily at school. I didn’t realise I was different until I left Cymru to join the Royal Navy. It’s the reason why so many boomers are not Indy supporters! The constant deluge of not being worthy, too small, too little strangled thoughts of freedom at birth. We were left to pour our frustrations into a game of rugby or football. That’s why we have so many 80minute Welshmen. It’s why we have so many… Read more »
So the fawning, sycophantic, royalist loving Tory toadies are all upset that this piece of turgid propaganda won’t be finding its way to all our kids. WHAT A SHAME!!
Why don’t those imperialist brown-nosing Anglophile ‘Welsh” Tories shut up! If schools in Wales have been given the option of having the this book or not by the Welsh Government is their decision to make not yours to force..
Not in wales 🏴 no English royals in wales 🏴 welsh history only in wales 🏴
This whole silly scheme is nothing more than expensive Tory nationalist propaganda and another deliberate provocation which hopefully will prove to wake us up to the potential benefits of independence.
Sorry the Russian government, I mean English government s , propaganda in Cymru won’t work, Yma O HYD. GOWER JENKINS
So, kids are cold and hungry! BUT they will have this book! Biggest example of screwed up thinking in recent History, and that is saying something! I despair at how utterly out of touch the Tories are.
QE2 has done her very best over 70 years tolerating a lot – from PMs to her own often disfunctional family. Meeting and touching the lives of many across thousands of communities – her attitudes and diplomatic ways – whether some here like it or not – do enjoy the support of the vast majority of Welsh people. Just how she put up with autocrats and despots plus vile mass murders around her banquet table – in itself deserves praise. Now as we come to the end of her reign we need to say ‘ Diolch ‘ and move quickly… Read more »
The democratically elected Gov of Cymru have given schools a choice, and the Tory party do not like it one bit, that their brit nat propaganda will not be forced on our school children, as is has been in the past. Times are changing, and they need to accept why the Tory party fail to gain power here.
Tories only love freedoms they agree with. Conserving the royalty lies and other nonsense is a choice i don’t wish my son to suffer. A choice is better than flags on most food and royals rammed ar you.
Storm in a Jubilee Fur Cup. This too will pass.
The Welsh Government’s refusal to be a party to this rather infantile exercise in British propaganda is a rare Welsh victory in the now-almost-daily assault on Cymru’s fragile devolution. It is to be applauded. We are now in effect witnessing a war of constitutions between Cardiff Bay and Tory Westminster.
Bet the book doesn’t cover the brutal Thatcher devastation of the coal industry andcommunities, the tory destruction of employment rights, the attack on the freedom to demonstrate, the tory reduction in armed forces, the failure of the privatisation of the railways, the disaster that ROYAL Shrewsbury Hospital. I could go on. .