BBC Wales appears to be hell bent on giving the rest of the UK an impression that the Welsh are nothing but a load of Welsh speaking nincompoops!
Its political commentary and commentators are unsophisticated, unpolished and blindingly undynamic.
It is no wonder that Wales is seen as an irrelevance by the rest of the UK, when one has this bias, profoundly fatuous and slapstick delivery of public broadcasting
LFW
lettersfromwalesuncut.com 
Really? BBC Wales is an English language channel, so I’d be surprised if its viewers outside of Wales came to the conclusion, based on its output, that Wales is a country of ‘Welsh speaking nincompoops’, as you say, whatever that means. Could you elaborate?
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Come on now Urien, you must admit that BBC Wales has become a conduit for Welsh speaking nationalist propaganda. My hard drive is full of examples. I’m not even going to start on my own personal dealings with them.
The whole lot are a bloody disgrace and I’ve put plenty into the public domain to prove it.
NB On the ‘Welsh speaking nincompoop’ bit, as it happens this is not directed at Welsh speakers exactly. My point being that BBC Wales gives the impression that everyone in Wales is a Welsh speaker and that Welsh is the first language of Wales, which as I’m sure you will agree, it is not.
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Once again, I don’t understand how BBC Wales, an English language channel, can be a conduit for ‘Welsh speaking nationalist propaganda’ as it is, well, in English. Moreover, the BBC is unswervingly pro-Royal and pro-British, as its name implies: just look at its coverage during the Scottish referendum. How it can be accused of being Welsh nationalist in its leanings confuses me. I would be genuinely interested in some examples.
You are correct in saying that not everyone is a Welsh speaker in Wales, but Welsh is Wales’ first language inasmuch as it is the language spoken in Wales since its first recorded history, and until 1901, it was the language of the majority of the population of Wales: that’s over 2 millennia.
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Latin and Greek have died and gone the way of academic deliverance (I did study the former), and the Welsh language is certainly not on a parity with either in respect of grammar, vocabulary, the arts etc etc.Lady Charlotte Guest was hardly a Greek dramatist, a Horace or a Virgil to name but a few, was she? – and the mythical Mabinogion doesn’t quite hack it when compared to the Aeneid either.
As for BBC Wales, and note I referred to the Welsh version not London, I am afraid I must totally disagree with you. Having said this, when it comes to PC left wing, middle class liberal smugness, BBC London goes off with the laurels.
The licence fee should be scrapped and as I say, Welsh language broadcasting subject to subscription along with the BBC as a whole.
All the best,
Julian
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Julian, no language is inherently more complicated or well-wrought or beautiful than any other. Of course Welsh isn’t ‘on a parity’ [sic] with Latin and Greek insofar as Welsh grammar it totally different to that of Latin and Greek. Welsh may have lost its case inflections (like most modern European languages) compared to Latin and Greek, but it expresses such distinctions as the vocative, accusative genitive differently, like through mutations (treigladau). The Welsh language conjugates verbs in a highly complicated manner compared to English, but it doesn’t make Welsh better or more complicated. Consider the word ‘eisteddasai’, meaning ‘he had sat’; one conjugation for what English needs three words to say.
By the way, the Mabinogion are hardly considered the classics of the Welsh language. The best Welsh literature is considered to be the poetry of the likes of Dafydd ap Gwilym. The Welsh literary tradition is older than that of English. Have you not heard of the Gododdin? Lady Guest was no Virgil, but nobody would consider her amongst the best Welsh writers.
Well, at least you think that the BBC should be a subscription based service for both languages. I did get the impression at the beginning you meant that only the Welsh version should be thus. You see many people think that should be so, that Welsh speakers must pay, whilst English speakers have no need to. My apologies for misunderstanding!
Regards
Urien
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Allow me to be clear, Urien. I do not in any shape or form advocate that Welsh language services alone should be by subscription. All BBC services should be thus.
Two points:
I am familiar with the writers you allude too, Caradoc Evans is a favourite of mine! Nevertheless, one must posit the argument that if, as you imply, Welsh classics are so great, then why has no-one heard of them outside the hallowed, self-serving staff rooms of Welsh academia??
Secondly, the question must be this and it is a simple one: Why should taxpayers pay to preserve a language that so few speak?
As far as I am aware, neither Latin nor Greek were ever preserved courtesy of the taxpayer? Having said this, as you say, your language has survived for two thousand years and I have every confidence that this will continue to be so for many years to come. As long as you maintain the language at home, hearth and in the streets then it will not die- although as I previously stated technology remains its biggest threat.
So then, why should the taxpayer be nobbled?
Julian
PS And I am not scornful of your language (I have stated many times on the public record, that it should be preserved), it is Welsh speakers who have been scorning me for the past few years:
The Wiki page on me had to be taken down because of malicious entries.
Revenge reviews of my books on Amazon.
Anonymity on the electoral roll due to threats.
Fake ‘Julian Fuck’ blogs.
Fake Facebook and Twitter accounts in my name.
Fake emails from young boys trying to entrap me into some kind of sordid laison…..the list goes on.
You cannot blame me for fighting fire with fire. Your lot started it.
Julian
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Julian,
The Welsh classics aren’t widely read outside of the Welsh language for the simple reason that there exist few translations of their work(s). Mainly because, as I’m sure you can confirm, the Welsh language has been marginalized through the centuries. Why would anyone have bothered trying to promote the likes of Dafydd ap Gwilym beyond the Welsh language when the consensus in England for centuries was that the Welsh language is a barbaric tongue whose extinction should be welcomed? I hear words to this effect often from people in England and in Wales even. I’m sure no one tells you that your language is pointless on a regular basis?
As regards using taxpayers’ money: taxpayers’ money is used for English services, why not Welsh? There’s a false dichotomy at work here: expenditure on the English language is taken for granted and is not questioned; it is seen as normal. Any expenditure on Welsh, however, is instantly questioned; Welsh is clearly not normalised yet, it is still seen as abnormal. Say you see a new sign in London by the side of the road, you wouldn’t think twice about it, might not even notice. But when people see a new sign in Wales in Welsh, it is instantly brought up by some people of certain leanings, and ‘waste of money’ is bleated incessantly.
And let’s not forget that at 20% of the population, Welsh speakers are a substantial minority. But they are a native minority who speak the native language of Wales. As the indigenous language of Britain, shouldn’t Welsh be protected and promoted and at least considered British? The most vehemently anti-Welsh language people I’ve met have been of strong Unionist leanings… Welsh is Britain’s oldest language.
I am sorry that you have suffered such slights from people who purportedly have some link with the language (what link exactly?).
“Your lot started it”. What? I am not an acquaintance with every Welsh speaker! What does ‘your lot’ mean? Quite divisive us/them feel to that. Who’s the nationalist again now?
Regards
Urien
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