Our nation’s economy is going nowhere fast – Sheen
Actor Michael Sheen last night warned Wales was “stuck” with a stagnant economy and called for the nation to “take responsibility”.
In a public lecture he said “calcification at the heart of the machine” was “jamming up the gears and stopping us moving forwards”.
During the talk on the subject of Wales’ national identity he also attempted to set in context the decision of Welsh voters to back Brexit.
Sheen, from Port Talbot, spoke at the annual Raymond Williams lecture at the Redhouse in Merthyr Tydfil.
Held by the Learning and Work Institute, he used the talk to look again at the question Williams once asked: who speaks for Wales?
In the nearly two-hour speech he covered a variety of topics including devolution, Brexit, Welsh history, and the country’s complex relationship with Westminster.
Speaking about Brexit he posed the question of why Wales voted to leave the EU.
He said: “As Raymond Williams said: ‘Everybody should speak and have the right to speak’.
“Who speaks for Wales? Where is the Welsh voice and how does it make itself heard?
“Who speaks for Wales? Nobody. That is both the problem and encouragement.
“It’s always a possibility if people who long feel ignored are suddenly given the opportunity to speak that what they say may not be what you want to hear.”
But he questioned why Welsh voters “went against Labour” and chose to follow England to vote yes and not Scotland and Northern Ireland.
He continued: “Without some kind of understanding of that story and its past we can not begin to answer that question, which is so full of contradictions.”
He went on to say the Brexit vote stemmed from a sense of disengagement felt by Welsh voters, particularly those in disadvantaged communities, who weren’t engaged despite devolution and the creation of the Welsh Assembly.
He said “the government moved closer to the people” but that hadn’t stopped Brexit dividing the country.
Despite Wales benefiting from EU funding voters had “still decided to give this up”.
Sheen called for the Welsh Government to create greater engagement with these communities and argued they should stick to policies and see them all the way through.
He added: “Calcification at heart of the machine here in Walesis jamming up the gears and stopping us moving forwards. We are stuck.
“Our economy is going nowhere fast.
“Unemployment levels down but in-work poverty soaring, low-skilled and low-waged jobs are all that seems available for many.
“We must be confident enough to take control of our own energies and resources, connected to each other and taking responsibilities for ourselves.”
He also spoke about Wales’ complex historical relationship with England and the effect it has had on Welsh thinking.
He cited an 1881 edition of the encyclopedia which read: “For Wales – see England”.
He added: “Those four short words are loaded with more history, com- plexity and division than it could ever be possible to unpack here today.
“The pied piper of Britishness danced us to the river and left us to drown.
“Did Europe tell us how to worship and what language to do it in? “Who was it that stole our relics?” “If we want to stay British we have to forget or act like it does not matter. Don’t teach it in schools and don’t talk about it in public.
“For Britain see England. When I say Britain I mean the English State.
“One of the complications for me is that, most of the time, I love being British – parts of it anyway. I just wish it loved us a bit more.”
Speaking about devolution he said he feared if Scotland gained independence England would change the way it saw Wales.
He said: “England could see UK as they saw the EU and think why should they subside the weaker Wales?”
He added: “The other aspect that worries me is when the government is desperate to improve the economy and journalism can’t give the scrutiny necessary then the poorer communities can be left extremely vulnerable.”