7. Statement by the Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language: UN International Year of Indigenous Languages

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:58 pm on 21 May 2019.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 5:58, 21 May 2019

Well, thank you very much. I think some of the words that were said there were very welcome: the fact that there is a sensitivity towards indigenous languages, that there is an understanding of the fact that climate change is going to impact on places in the world and there will be pressures and that, actually, that is likely to lead to further movement. The problem is that many, many of the members of the party that she now belongs to actually are in denial of these things and have actually been in a situation to really stir up and stoke tensions, particularly against people who speak minority languages. And it's really sad, because I know the Member herself is not in that category, but there are many, many people in that party who hold that position, and it's really sad to see that situation. I think there has to be an understanding that, as a party—as a party—that is not the view that is shared by many, many people who are now following the lead that we are seeing from Nigel Farage.

In relation to the Welsh technology plan, I'm very pleased that you talk about open-source technology. It's a really important aspect that we are really trying to develop. We are working very closely with Mozilla, the organisation, in the development of this Common Voice project. So, if anybody is a Welsh speaker, then we would ask you to add five sentences of your voice to the complex network that we're trying to build up so that we have a base of speakers to use to make sure that we can use this voice technology in future.