91Èȱ¬

Why don't you see yourself as Britsh first, and then Welsh? I suppose to that end, do you feel that the English should have their own parliament, and we should dispense with the UK as an entity?

So then, Wales eh?

Do you, um.. have any unique issues that don't affect the rest of the , ah , UK then?

Why do you want to participate in the potential prime Minister's debate when you are not standing for election as Prime Minister?

Why do you want to segregate yourself from England, do you think this would prevent or provoke tension between the two countries?

I don't speak Welsh!

Do you think that it is ethically acceptable for the people of England to fund your proposed better deal, like we do Scotland?

Can Wales transform 30 years of public sector support since the closure of the mines, the iron and steel industry etc etc or will it continue to need money from Westminster, the EU or anywhere else?

Is the dynamism to be found in the best of Wales still being held back by bitterness and hopelessness or is the time now ripe for Wales to become a dynamic economy again?

Turn the lights off when you leave.

"What would you ask the Plaid Cymru leader"

Err ..

"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck,if a woodchuck could chuck wood"

Why should the English taxpayer be expected to support Wales when your party wants to disassociate Wales from the UK?

I would ask him why he wanted to be on such an awful show.

Don't worry about negative comments from the English about the "raw deal" and need for an English parliament. Its payback time for their invasions of the Celtic nations and ripping out our natural resources over the last 700 years.

Are you not aware that Britain has a non-racism policy and that favouring the population of one country over another is a criminal offence?

Why are you wasting valuable taxes on compulsory Welsh lessons in schools? How will speaking Welsh help with dealing with French, German, Russian & Chinese businesses later in life, and wouldn't it make more sense to teach children these languages instead?

So, Wales.

Where is that exactly?

When are you going to stop wasting money with your stupid demands for everything to be repeated in Welsh. Everything costs twice as much because it has to be in two languages to please a few. A good example is road works or emergency signs, Welsh is shown first, by the time you've got to the English transcipt you've past it, it is grossly dangerous. Take the A55 the main route from Europe to Ireland, people from other countries have'nt even heard of Welsh, the vast percentage of people using it don't understand or ever want to learn Welsh, so why persist in wasting money making everything bi-lingual. Celebrate the fact your are a principality that has a different culture that you are proud of but stop imposing and shoving down peoples throats costs that could be avoided.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Does he support the dogmatic promotion of the Welsh language by imposing language requirements on companies based outside Wales but that supply goods and services to Wales? If so, and bearing in mind these additional costs should not be borne by those who do not require availability of Welsh language information and documentation (i.e. the entire population of England), is he effectively proposing a WAG-sponsored, Welsh-language stealth tax to be imposed on the residents of Wales?

Again, if so, isn't this discriminatory towards those who are not Welsh speakers? Put simply, isn't this a racist proposal that could impose a burden on those who aren't Welsh and do not use Welsh but who have every right to live in Wales as it is still part of the Britain and the EU?

"Don't worry about negative comments from the English about the "raw deal" and need for an English parliament. Its payback time for their invasions of the Celtic nations and ripping out our natural resources over the last 700 years"

Funny,when times were prosperous and the "Celtic" nations were building the ships that serviced the empire and the coal that fuelled them there was not problem with being part of Britain.Now the wheels have dropped off the wagon...........

The question should be more specific - "As someone who is Welsh what would you ask the Plaid Cymru leader"? as it is the Welsh on who he will have most impact.Yes there is talk about there influence on a hung parliament,but there are other parties in Westminster who they could call on for support so its not a given that they could have any say in a future goverment.Its a Welsh question as opposed to a British question,nothing wrong with that at all but it should be kept in context.

"What would you do about the lack of jobs, for Welsh people and the worst standerd of living in the U.K The higest rates of sickness in the U.K.{ welsh valleys} the very poor houseing estate in many parts of Wales.

12. At 10:34am on 29 Apr 2010, GC wrote:
Don't worry about negative comments from the English about the "raw deal" and need for an English parliament. Its payback time for their invasions of the Celtic nations.

----

I'd just like to apologise for the actions of my ancestors from around 450ad,and also particularly for their winning the battle of Heavensfield in around 634ad and ending native British ambitions of dominating this island.

Ps. Would you like like fish with that enormous chip?

Where do you think the balance should be between encouraging the use of the Welsh language and putting companies to expense irrespective of the desire of its customers or employees to use Welsh in their day-to-day business?

Ble ydych chi'n meddwl y dylai'r cydbwysedd rhwng annog y defnydd o'r iaith Cymraeg a rhoi cwmnïau i draul ni waeth beth yw awydd ei gwsmeriaid neu weithwyr i ddefnyddio Cymraeg yn eu gwaith o ddydd-i-ddydd?

(I speak as a Welsh-speaker living in England, who really spooked a Welsh customer of an English computer company I was working for by conducting a support call in Welsh!)

How much will you be able to extort from the English if there's a hung parliament?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I assume my #22 has been referred to the moderators for the dreadful sin of writing in both Welsh and English - the Welsh is a direct translation of what I said in English, apposite as the comment was about bilingualism.

@19

Your comment effectively restricted any question to a Cymro. Talk about Little Britain!

Bearing in mind that Plaid supported the SNP's bid for national coverage in the debate and that minority parties may have disproportionate power if the Conservatives gain office, it is entirely correct that everyone in Britain has a chance to ask what "beyond the border", mapcap dogma Plaid would impose as a condition for their support of the Tories

Their seems to be three areas of debate where the parties do not fear to tread:

Why does cameron wish to continue locking up longterm unemployed people in detention centres without charge and abuse their human rights ?

When will means testing be abolished for core benefits,the failed jobcentre organisation abolished it has no place in a civilised society,we can no longer afford to spend £10 for every one pound distributed by beaurocrats. The savings to the taxpayer in direct and indirect costs are some 16 billion a year?

Why do all the major parties refuse to talk about the high levels of corruption in the civil service? Surely the Surrey Case, Baby 'p,' and Blair Peach cases all point to the lack of accountability of government employees to the public and the courts?

Would all candidates give their personal assurances that civil servants will be immediately sacked where there is reasonable suspicion of crimes against the public?

The only hope the civil service has of surviving the next ten years is direct accountability to the general public,what radical changes will each candidate make within the first 60 days to achieve this?

I was at college in the 1970's when devolution was first proposed.

Two fellow students, both welsh, one from Cardiff and one from Barry told me 'we are proud of being welsh but if an indepedant Wales means we end up on the dole in Cardiff we do not want it'.

What would you say in reply to these fellow countrymen today?

Great Boyo, let us go for it!

Mr Jones, have you any idea when Wales is likely to declare independence? We English are likely to beat you to it if you are not careful!

Do you come across much opposition to the survival of Europe's oldest spoken Language, Welsh? Do you also see much intolerance to the Welsh and Welsh people as generally shown by many contributers to this HYS?

25. At 11:53am on 29 Apr 2010, Megan wrote:

"I assume my #22 has been referred to the moderators for the dreadful sin of writing in both Welsh and English - the Welsh is a direct translation of what I said in English, apposite as the comment was about bilingualism."

Coincidentally, my #24 got pulled for the same reason. Good thing they don't use the 'Welsh Not' anymore or I'd have been beaten at the end of the day!

Your comment effectively restricted any question to a Cymro. Talk about Little Britain!

Bearing in mind that Plaid supported the SNP's bid for national coverage in the debate and that minority parties may have disproportionate power if the Conservatives gain office, it is entirely correct that everyone in Britain has a chance to ask what "beyond the border", mapcap dogma Plaid would impose as a condition for their support of the Tories

How do you know that Plaid will support the Tories? I would say that the Unionist Irish are far more likely supporters to a Conservative than a Welsh party that is centre left?

I believe Jeremy Vine ought to scrutinise his own program making.
In his interviews it is clear that he is not impartial and his political views shine through. They don't appear to support the labour party.

31. At 12:07pm on 29 Apr 2010, Sue Denim wrote:
Do you come across much opposition to the survival of Europe's oldest spoken Language, Welsh?

---

Think you'll find thats Greek, largely unchanged since the late bronze age.

Modern welsh in completely distinct and separate from the Bythronic (or proto-Welsh) spoken only fifteen hundred years ago.

I would ask - why has Monmouthshire been split up and made to learn Welsh - it was in England affiliated to the SW more than the rest of Wales, then split into ineffective unitary authorities with little money or influence. Monmouthshire was a proud shire county and I was proud to be from there. Now I find myself in somewhere called Torfaen - how do I explain my origins when it no longer exists? Where has my identity gone?At least Gwent had an identity but I remember thinking at the time that this was a step along a road dictated by the minority Welsh speakers - they ask, they get and the rest of us (as I have been told) if we don't like it can leave! Devolution has exacerbated the situation and has been nothing more than costly with millions spent on an unrecognised language; divisive - pitching Welsh against English speakers; and inward looking - the use of the Welsh language and all things Welsh are meaningless in the global world we now compete in.
Question is - when are you going to give up this madness of bleating about Wales being different? It isn't different and is part of the UK - has helped to build and defend the UK and wouldn't last five minutes on it's own - there's no financial/business infrastructure, no institutions of any standing to support that - there isn't even a Bank of Wales any more! At least Scotland can boast they have the infrastructure to support their hard won Parliament - they had those institutions often before England - perhaps that's why the Scots are prevalent throughout our systems and the Welsh struggle to get jobs?!! Think on that!

hi i think that what you heard from mr brown yesterday was the real brown he was even rude to jerey vine on the radio i think he really isnt a very nice man he would not of said sorry if he had not been heard no what was the truth was what he said in that car he made it sound nice what he said to the lady then behind her back he was nasty he is very 2 faced man

As an English resident living, working and paying taxes (inc Council Tax) in Wales, what does your party offer me?

Why is it acceptable to refuse an employee with 20-plus years experience the right to take up employment in Wales because they don't speak Welsh? Would you find it acceptable if Welsh speakers were refused emplyment in England?

The manifesto talks about a nation and yet Wales is actually a principality i.e. not a country. Barely half the country voted for a Welsh Assembly and barely half voted in favour. This menas just over a quarter of the voters actually voted for a Welsh Assembly where's the democracy in this? It's no better than an aspiration regional government. The lost jobs are part of the economic environment that we live in and Westminster has shunted public sector jobs to help Wales out. The spending review still favours Wales compared to London and the South East of England should we go for independence. Devolution is divisive wasteful and serves little for the majority of nation. As for thinking that you peserve your culture through language that in its self is misguided and making people speak Welsh for the sake of it is narrow and exclusive.

I Would just like to say as a young person in wales and being partner of a private business in wales I would love them to have a referendum because i could guarantee that the welsh assembly would not still be here!

Can you give the English an assurance that you will never take part in or vote on issues that ONLY affect England? After all you dont have a democtaric mandate on these issues do you!

In powys for example the assembly government isnt working there are lans to close half the schools in the area thats proof that the system doesnt work and the money per head for every school child in wales is a lot less than england and I beleive it goes to the welsh assembly!

Are you really going to tell the Welsh people that Plaid will not allow service funding cuts in Wales that will be necessary right across the UK...as stated in your manifesto? Who do you want your Radio 2 listening audience to be....Just Welsh voters or English and Scots too?