Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. It was good to see in that meeting last night. I do think that we have a problem in relation to a number of people who've been through Welsh-medium education who don't have the confidence, perhaps, to use the language, in particular in the further education colleges. And that's why this group is so essential, I think, so that we do have the coleg Cymraeg,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. I think we have got to understand that it is the UK Government that leads in relation to foreign affairs, but also it is important that people understand the values on which we think agreements like this should be made. I do think that there is a role for us in the Welsh Government to be supportive of any steps that are going to get us closer to seeing a resolution to the middle...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. So, we have written to the foreign Secretary. I think it's really important that, whatever happens in future, it's based on international law and on equality and on ensuring that both sides have an understanding that this has got to be a mutual agreement. I think the real problem with this plan is that the Palestinians weren't in the room when it was being discussed. I think any...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Although international relations is a reserved competence, I have written to the foreign Secretary to make clear our position on this middle east peace plan. Wales stands firmly behind a rules-based international system, and firmly behind a truly equitable search for a resolution to one of the longest-running conflicts. If there are to be negotiations, this should be done in accordance with...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Scheduled monuments are afforded protection through designation. Cadw’s field monument wardens regularly monitor their condition and provide management advice to owners. Grant schemes can provide financial support for their upkeep and repair. Cof Cymru, Cadw’s online record of historic assets, gives the public information about these nationally important monuments.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The Welsh Government recognises that more needs to be done to close the participation gaps in sport. Good progress is being made with Sport Wales and its partners delivering a range of programmes across a number of sports, which are focused on encouraging more women and girls to take part.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. In terms of education, I think what's important is that we try to persuade parents to send their children to Welsh-medium schools where that's possible. So, that’s why I think what's important is that we start at the beginning with nursery schools. That's why an additional £1 million went into opening additional nursery schools. Of course, Anglesey has a target, as does Gwynedd,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Dai. May I say that it is important to underline that languages die in the world every other week? I think it important that people can look to us and can learn from us. But I think it is important that we don't always talk about the death of the language and 'We are still here' and so on. We have to change the way we talk about the language. We need to celebrate, we need to look...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I am going to reply in Welsh, because I'm aware that your Welsh is excellent, John—I'm sure that you don't need the headset, but we'll see—just to say that I'm very happy with the enthusiasm that there is in the Newport area and beyond in terms of the Welsh language, and it's wonderful to see that there'll be a new school in that area. The schools that are already...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, may I start by making it clear that there have been no cuts in the Welsh language budget? There will be no cut in the Welsh language budget. I don't know how many times I can state that. In addition to that, the £6.5 million that Plaid Cymru agreed to in the previous budget—we have maintained that funding, so that funding has gone towards the budget as well. In addition to that, I...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much; there were many questions there. First of all, may I say how encouraging it is that we are operating on a cross-party basis towards this target of 1 million Welsh speakers? I think that does give a very clear message within and outwith Wales, and this is a message that we're trying to share in Northern Ireland, for example, to show that there is a journey that you can...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: In relation to increasing use of the language, last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Welsh Government and the Welsh Language Commissioner. All of the work being done by our grant partners in our communities continues to give opportunities to people of all abilities to use Welsh. And the Welsh Government is developing an internal strategy to become a bilingual...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to present our report on the journey to a million Welsh speakers. We've been busy. As I say in the foreword to the annual report, it can feel like a lot of time has passed since we launched Cymraeg 2050, because it really has caught the imagination of people across Wales and beyond. But, remember that only two years have passed since it was published, and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, and thank you for all the work that you do with the cross-party group. I think that that is a forum that does provide a great help. Of course we have to be flexible—that’s the world that we live in. And so, it’s important that we do have some targets, but that we also understand that we will have to change as things move forward. I would also like to pay tribute to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I spend most of my time telling my son to get off the FIFA game, but I can't pretend that I understand how it works. So, it's difficult for me to say, 'Right, that's a great idea', without knowing a bit more about it. But as a principle, if there's any chance we can get a platform on those kinds of systems, then that would be wonderful. So, crack on, and let me know how you...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, and I'll be very sorry to be missing that debate tomorrow, because it does sound fascinating. I do hope that we'll have opportunities in this international strategy. Something I'm hoping to do when I go to the States is to really promote the fact that we had, for example, the women's peace petition, which I know the Llywydd has talked about in the past. About a third of the women...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, David, and thank you for the committee's work too.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much for all the work that the committee has done to feed into this document as well. I actually refute the fact that we don't know where we're going to be in five years. If you look at the executive summary, it's absolutely clear what we want to be doing in five years' time. And that's how you can measure us. You know, 500,000 connections in terms of the diaspora community; I...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Mandy. And thank you for the fact that you welcome the statement, but also for underlining the importance of working with the UK Government, because they have massive resources that we need to tap into, and some of what we're trying to do here is to make sure that they are working on our behalf. But for them to work effectively on our behalf we need to make sure that they have the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The co-ordination of this strategy has been cross-Government, and Ministers have been feeding into it. And you're absolutely right: sustainability has been central to what we've been trying to deliver here. The well-being of future generations will be core, and it's of real interest. Whenever we speak to people from different countries around the world, that's the thing that many of them pick...
