Let’s not allow bridge to create a big divide
THE longer I live, the more aware I become of the apparent contradictions inside me.
I am a proud Welshman and a life-long supporter of the nationalist cause. At the same time I am an admirer of HRH Charles, the Prince of Wales.
In my humble opinion, no English prince has better deserved the title than the one now holding it. Prince Charles has visited Wales more frequently, has a residence here and has shown more empathy and understanding of Wales than any who have held the title since our own native princes.
May I also add that I have profound respect for the monarchy too, especially for Queen Elizabeth who, over her long reign, has served us well.
I am not alone in this. The respect for the monarchy and affection for Prince Charles is shared by most Welsh people. For some reason there is something of a love affair between Wales and the monarchy.
But this is often exploited, and, when it is, it harms both parties.
When Plaid Cymru’s star seemed to be in the ascendency following its victory in Carmarthen in 1966 and its near victories in the Rhondda and Caerphilly shortly afterwards, alarm bells rang in Westminster, especially in the Labour Party, which had long regarded Welsh votes as its own. Did someone then whisper in the Prime Minister’s ear, “Play the royalty card, Harold?”, and so it was.
The Royal Family was dragged through the mire of party politics and a circus was arranged in Caernarfon Castle. I was at the time a member of an urban district council and opposed this cynical use of an institution I respected, and what is more I beheld the ugly, disgusting spectacle of Labour councillors, many of whom were ardent republicans at heart, becoming, for the time at least, avowed monarchists. But it did the trick. We who opposed the Investiture were branded disloyal and despised, and the honourable institution of the monarchy was made an instrument of division.
Please do not let this happen again, for I am sure that some devious mind has conceived the idea of renaming the Second Severn Crossing to sow discord and discontent in order to further political ambition.
If the Second Severn Crossing has to have another name then let it be a neutral one, one that makes for unity and not discord. Let us give it a name that evokes internationalism.
May I suggest Pont Hafren, from Pontus Sabrinae (Sabrina being the Latin for Severn, which became Hafren through the changes to which all language are subject).
Otherwise, let things remain as they are and let’s not let a bridge, of all things, create division and dissension. Rev G Carey Jones Llangennech