Welsh speakers shouldn’t engage in ‘cancel culture’ against those who denigrate them – Telegraph

Welsh speakers should have enough “self-confidence” not to engage in “cancel culture” against those who denigrate them, according to one of the Telegraph’s editorial staff.

It comes came after the Director of Corporate Affairs at the supermarket chain Iceland was sacked after Nation.Cymru revealed that he had called the Welsh language gibberish and said it sounded “like someone with bad cattarh clearing his throat”.

John Eifion Jones, who is on the editorial staff of The Daily Telegraph, wrote in the paper that Keith Hann’s comments had “sparked outrage among those nationalists who take their cue from Nicola Sturgeon to seize any moment to stir division”.

“But the Welsh language is surely grand enough and nowadays strong enough to shrug off ill-judged insults on social media,” he said.

“It’s spoken by nearly 900,000 people and apparently another 400,000 are having a stab at learning it on Duolingo. That is the positive side of new media.

“Cancel culture has become The blight of our days. It may be the province of students who should know better and academics who nowadays follow rather than lead. But the Welsh should have enough self-confidence for this to be beneath them.”

John Eifion Jons has worked at Fleet Street since 1974, first as a correspondent for United Press International. In 1987 he joined The Telegraph and has remained on the editorial staff for over 30 years.