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Opinion

Adam Boulton’s comments reveal that what makes Wales unique isn’t considered part of the UK’s identity at all

19 Nov 2019 6 minute read
Adam Boulton. Picture by Policy Exchange (CC BY 2.0)

Stephen Amos

A number of reports recently have highlighted the way that Wales is perceived when compared to the wider United Kingdom. Firstly, Sky News presenter Adam Boulton suggested in an interview with Delyth Jewell AM that Wales is not a country.

Boulton asked: “Do you think that Wales really holds together as a nation? You’ve got south Wales, north Wales, Welsh language speakers, non-Welsh speakers.”

In doing so, one must presume, that he was suggesting that the UK is a country of which Wales is a part, a region, rather than a country within. Of course, he fails to address that the UK is split in a more distinct way – it includes Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, and includes the same Welsh Speakers and non-Welsh Speakers alongside Gaelic, Cornish and English speakers that seemingly puts the idea of Wales in jeopardy.

This week also saw the release of Warren Gatland’s new Autobiography, Pride and Passion. In it he recalls an incident following Wales’s win over England in the Six Nations in February. The defeated England team initially wanted to make a ‘quick getaway’ instead of taking part in the usual post-match activities. It was at one of these events that he noticed that the TV screens, which normally would have been showing highlights of the game, were blank.

Gatland claimed: “I’d had my nose rubbed in it on more than once occasion up the road in London. Here in Cardiff, such behaviour was suddenly deemed improper.”

There is undoubtedly a double standard when it comes to the treatment of Wales and that of England. It is a double standard that does not just reflect the two different changing rooms, but the media at large.

A programme on BBC Five Live (13th November) asked the question : Who is on England’s greatest ever XI? Now there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this question, especially considering it marked England’s 1000th international match – a landmark which certainly deserves celebrating.

However, the question needs to be asked: would BBC Five Live dedicate over an hour asking the same question about Welsh, or indeed, Scottish players? There is no doubt that a programme like this would be broadcast but it would probably be confined solely to BBC Wales or BBC Scotland.

In the build-up to the recent Rugby World Cup final, there was much discussion here in Wales as to who to support – England or South Africa. It may seem logical to support your neighbours, a country with whom we share so much and have so much in common, however, a frequent complaint is that if England were to win then we would ‘never hear the end of it.’ As the joke goes – England won the football World Cup in 1966 and we still haven’t heard the end of it.

The fact is, where Wales or Scotland are concerned, they are of ‘regional’ interest, whereas if it is England then it is of National interest. This is most obvious in sport. Another oft mentioned joke is how, if Wales met Scotland in the Rugby World Cup final, the half time show would still include the inevitable ‘And now over to the England Camp,’ segment.

In Cricket, Wales is completely ignored and subsumed into the greater English team. The England ‘and Wales’ Cricket Board becomes the ECB and the badge is entirely English without and reference to Wales whatsoever.

 

Choice

This bias can also be seen in history, which is almost entirely England based. The history of Britain is the history of England and battles with Wales or Scotland treated in the same way that skirmishes with France, or any other foreign aggressor, are. Owain Glyndwr is not a British hero, he is a Welsh one. The same can be said of William Wallace – he is not a British hero, he is a Scottish one. The reason for this is simple – these and many others, were challenging the English (British) state and so can’t be treated as British.

Adam Boulton’s attack on Welsh identity, culture and language, like others before him (for example, Omid Djalili’s joke concerning the Welsh Language) illustrate that, whilst the British establishment insists on Wales and Scotland being geographically part of the UK, the distinct cultures and languages within this geographic area, are not.

If the whole of the UK is one, then all languages and cultures within in should be treated as part of a greater whole, however, this is not the case. Welsh is not seen as a British language, one to be celebrated and taken seriously throughout the UK, it is an anomaly pushed to the periphery of the land and largely ignored. The same with Gaelic in Scotland or Cornish in Cornwall.

Boulton’s dismissal of Wales, based on the very real infrastructure issues between the north and south of Wales, stems from the belief that all roads lead to London. The national anthem for the UK is not one that represents the whole of the UK – Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and Flower Of Scotland are regional – God Save the Queen is English and British.

The only way the mind can justify considering the UK as a nation on the basis of a linguistic and cultural uniformity, and Wales as not a nation on the basis of a linguistic and cultural diversity – despite the UK having the Welsh language and culture within it – is if the unique features that make up Wales aren’t considered part of the UK’s identity at all.

We in Wales (and Scotland) have two choices. We can either accept or embrace our position on the margins; we can give up and accept the dominant British/English culture, or we can take ownership of who we are and strike out on our own.

These are the options that confront us, that have been made stark by Brexit, and we may well be voting on over the next few years. So far the Welsh government has not taken this dilemma seriously, although there are rumblings. Even Mark Drakeford has admitted Independence is an option, especially if Scotland votes to leave.

The Yes Cymru movement has grown from the ground up; it is about time those in charge recognised the danger that the country that Wales is in and made their choice.


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Simon Gruffydd
Simon Gruffydd
4 years ago

Never heard of Adam Bolton. But then I don’t have or watch teledu. Regardless, the UK establishment and their supporters’ inability to appreciate the fact that Welsh language and culture is the very heart of British culture (being the only British language still spoken to any degree (Scottish Gaelic is a transplant from Ulster, modern English is a continental Franco-Germanic hybrid a mere 6 centuries old)), is their loss, not ours. Like the horse metaphor, we can bring them to the waters of knowledge but we can’t make them drink. What is essential however, is that we not allow this… Read more »

Sibrydionmawr
Sibrydionmawr
4 years ago

Evidence free conspiracy theory. Do you really think that the French, the Germans, the Italians or any of the rest would want to lose their identities such as they are?

Mike McGrane
Mike McGrane
4 years ago

They (Europe) will flood all nations with outsiders and put down all nationalistic trends ? Exactly what happened to the other nations in Britain isn’t it? But that’s OK of course as its England doing it. The trouble is to the English establishment Britain is just England or really the so-called Home Counties or London.

Dave Brooker
Dave Brooker
4 years ago

It’s at the bottom of the page

Rhosddu
Rhosddu
4 years ago

It’s debatable whether there’s any point in trying to extrapolate a whole thesis from Boulton’s prejudiced comment. These sorts of remarks are made about Cymru every day by ignorant people, and they’re not worth giving the time of day to. Boulton lacks the imagination to think beyond his own anglocentric viewpoint, so Delyth Jewell should not have bothered turning up for the interview. It’s best to forget about him, or you risk giving the anti-Wales trolls (i.e. the two individuals who offer uninformative one-line put-downs on this site, with regular name-changes) a field day.

Ah, I see they’ve started already.

Jonathan Gammond
Jonathan Gammond
4 years ago

Always enjoy reading the historical remarks. The best so far being that modern English is a Franco-Germanic hybrid a mere six centuries old. The ‘French’ (along with the Normans, the Bretons and the Flemings) arrived armed nearly a thousand years, while the ‘Germanics’ arrived around 1500 years ago. I wonder what the majority of people living in England were using in the meantime – old English, middle English. in a myriad of dialects etc etc. English like Welsh and most languages (apart from extinct ones) has evolved over many many centuries. The Welsh of Taliesin, Gruffudd ab Ynad Coch, Dafydd… Read more »

Gillard Peter
Gillard Peter
4 years ago

This article is spot on.

Ieuan Coch
Ieuan Coch
4 years ago

As someone who had the unfortunate accident, of birth in southern England, and subsequently spent his formative years in the heartland of *englishness* I confess no suprise in the casual marginalization of Wales in both the media and politics. My mercifully brief journeys eastward across the border into that country only serve to confirm that Wales and the Welsh, sairad cymraeg or no, are undeniably different, but also should embrace and protect that difference. To my mind the humorously ironic back story of Brexit and it’s *we want our country back* narrative is that, all things being well that country*… Read more »

Jill o the South
Jill o the South
4 years ago

What if Adam Boulton has got a point: “Do you think that Wales really holds together as a nation? You’ve got south Wales, north Wales, Welsh language speakers, non-Welsh speakers.” This is a very salient question that should be put to Plaid Cymru and to Gwlad Gwlad. Does Wales hold together as a Nation? As a Welsh Nationalist I would have to answer No, I don’t think it does. It is a presumed nation and an imagined nation. Geographically we inhabit the same land structure to the west of Clawdd Offa but if we don’t take the question literally and… Read more »

Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
4 years ago

I agree we should face facts. Of which there are two. 1. English perceptions – often sceptical ie picking off weaknesses, which we need to solve. Eg being divided against ourselves. Take Cricket – Glamorgan CCC nixing a a Wales Cricket team. We need to tighten up, surely? 2. Our self-perceptions: ‘we can’t afford Indy’ – yes we can, though we might have to get out of our chairs first.

j humphrys
j humphrys
4 years ago

UK’s identity has taken a dent lately in Europe, maybe the world.
In Scandia, it has been in steep decline since the Brexit vote.

Paul Ap Gareth
Paul Ap Gareth
4 years ago

Regarding your comment “Welsh is not seen as a British language”.

Once when I had an excess of time, I complained to my bank about the cashpoint’s use of the Union Flag for English language option and the Y Ddraig Goch for the Welsh language option. I told them it should either be the Union Flag for both languages or the flag of Saint George for English alongside the Y Ddraig Goch for Wales.

Their reply was a blunt “It is not a mistake”.

Sibrydionmawr
Sibrydionmawr
4 years ago
Reply to  Paul Ap Gareth

Using flags for language choice is usually quite a bad choice. As you pointed out, the Union flag could just as easily denote Welsh, but conversely Y Ddraig Goch could also denote English. Similarly, things could get a bit out of hand using many European flags to denote language choice. Take a Belgian flag for example – there are three official languages in Belgium, French, Dutch and German. Far better to use the language name in written from in the language it indicates – this might confuse your average Brexiter, (who would probably also be surprised to learn that the… Read more »

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