Wales and immigration: We need to talk
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A continuing exodus of Welsh people from Wales will persist until we wake up and understand the forces working against us. A prosperous and vibrant Welsh Wales is not only possible but relatively easy to ensure if we are willing to educate ourselves and act. See: https://freewales.org/independent-wales-prosperous-wales/
It is time for discussion about the so called Welsh “deficit” . I can quite understand the reluctance of all political parties to confront this fallacy but surely rational analysis cannot be considered offensive.
Using local authority power to charge maximum Council Tax on 2nd homes a an obvious, if modest impact, start.Public housing in rural areas has been v.successful at sustaining rural communities,as long as not sold off…..we just have to build some.
Also, implementing similar policies to those of the Lake District and Dartmoor National Parks in England – though of course, those would be seen as ‘racist’ in Wales, though that accusation should be completely ignored at a practical level, and robustly challenged in argument. Those making those kinds of arguments are usually the type that champions indigenous rights in places like North and South America, and elsewhere, but show their true nasty little colonialist colours when it comes to Wales. They also don’t get the irony of their accusations. There is no need for speculative amounts of building in rural… Read more »
I wrote my postgraduate thesis on this subject, looking at migrants’ perceptions on the Welsh language (those living only in North Wales in predominantly Welsh speaking areas). It was a fascinating investigation, and what I found is that many migrants who have already had to learn English are very eager to learn Welsh – they feel that in doing so they can connect better with Welsh communities. What is really exciting is that immigration can and should be seen as an opportunity for Wales – by combining strong and effective integration policies with Welsh language promotion, I argued in my… Read more »
You don’t say where those immigrants were from. I suspect they weren’t immigrants from England! Whilst in no way are all English people who move to live in Wales are anti Welsh everything, a majority are hostile, or at the very least, indifferent to the Welsh language and culture. Your findings don’t surprise me one bit if you’re referring to people from the EU, (or indeed, from outside the EU) as many of them come from countries that only achieved self-determination in the past century, and who can therefore empathise with the plight of Welsh speakers. They are also less… Read more »
Catalonia is an example of a country which has no powers to stop people moving in (and is ruled by European pro-free movement parties), but has powers over education and language policy to make as many of these people as possible “new citizens”.
Eluned Morgan’s rural Wales plan, published this month, is a good start.
What a disappointing article. The heading reads ‘We need to talk’ and then, despite mentioning Seimon Glyn, tip-toes around the elephant in the room – English immigration. Even going off to discuss immigration from outside of Britain – of which Wales sees very little! The writer talks of depopulation, and quotes Elystan Morgan, without making it clear that it is a depopulation of the indigenous population – which is being replaced by an English population, not all of them elderly and retired. This is a state-sponsored population transfer, aided by the ‘Welsh’ Government’s obsession with developing Cardiff at the expense… Read more »
At the ripe old age of 49, there are 4 people I know of from my year in Penglais still in Ceredigion. If you are a 17 year old in Cwmystwyth et al why the hell would you want to stay in rural mid Wales or even the towns. Poor infrastructure, poor communications (if you are not on facebook, your friends think you are dead) and poor job prospects. Large parts of rural Ceredigion still don’t have mobile or fibre of any sort yet. Raise any of this and the current council leader will attempt to rip you a new… Read more »
Thank you for this piece Huw. I have a fair few comments I’d like to make on it. You did say, “let’s talk”. However, I’ll break them down into more manageable chunks. Here’s part 1 of 2 on ‘education’. It’s not simply a ‘tragic irony’ that Ceredigion’s ‘unrivalled’ education coincides with a lack of jobs and affordable housing. It’s part of the reason. Education is a significant part of the cause of net out-migration amongst Welsh-speakers. No, I don’t mean too little education. I mean too much. There’s four reasons for this: Welsh-speaking students who have attended their ‘local’ university… Read more »