Now you’re TALKING
MEMBERS of Parliament will be able to use Welsh in Westminster debates for the first time following a campaign by a North Wales MP.
MPs will be free to challenge one another in the language during sessions of the Welsh Grand Committee when the UK Government brings forward a motion to change the rules.
At present, MPs can only speak Welsh when the Welsh Affairs Select Committee is taking evidence. The language will now be used in short debates, legislative scrutiny and the questioning of ministers after a push by Clwyd South Labour MP Susan Elan Jones and colleagues. Ms Jones, who formally requested the Commons Procedure committee allow bilingual debate in the Welsh Grand Committee, said: “I think it’s a necessary change... I just think we have to recognise that Wales is a bilingual country. Many of us will be taking advantage of that.”
David Lidington, the leader of the Commons, said: “Welsh MPs play a vital role in making their constituents’ voices heard in the House of Commons. Across Whitehall, UK Government ministers are listening and responding – as we are by promoting the Welsh language in Parliament and its contribution to the cultural diversity of the UK.”
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said: “I am delighted that MPs will be able to participate in the Welsh Grand Committee through the medium of Welsh for the first time in Westminster. It is vitally important that the people of Wales are able to hear debates in both languages. I hope that MPs who can speak Welsh will choose to use this service in order to help promote the Welsh language across Parliament.”
According to the UK Government, the cost of the translation services will be “absorbed within Parliament’s existing budgets”, meaning this change “takes place at no extra cost to the taxpayer”.
The Procedure Committee investigated the issue and made the following conclusion at the end of last year: “The committee recognises the unique status of Welsh as a language with statutory protection for its use in Wales, and makes no criticism of the existing arrangements for the use of Welsh.
“While the committee strongly maintains the principle that the language of the House of Commons is English, it finds that there is no technical bar to making arrangements for the use of Welsh in Grand Committee sittings at Westminster, and that the likely additional costs of arranging for the use of Welsh at a Grand Committee sitting are lower than the costs of holding a committee sitting in Wales.”