4. 90-second Statements

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:17 pm on 17 November 2021.

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Photo of Rhys ab Owen Rhys ab Owen Plaid Cymru 3:17, 17 November 2021

(Translated)

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I want to congratulate cymanfa ganu Westminster on its centenary celebrations this year. The gymanfa was established in 1920 by the Prime Minister at the time, David Lloyd George, to commemorate those who lost their lives in the first world war. Of course, they're celebrating the centenary this year because they were unable to meet last year, for obvious reasons.

It was a great privilege to preside at this year’s gymanfa at the beautiful Castle Street chapel in Oxford Circus in London, joining hundreds of London Welsh in song. And Llywydd, a great number of them were Cardis, as with all other London Welsh events, and I was singing next to your fellow Member for Ceredigion, Ben Lake. I don't know who was keeping who in tune. The gymanfa was ably led by the Plaid Cymru councillor, Trystan Lewis—Janet will remember him well, of course. And under his baton, the singing was even more rapturous and the remembrance even more heartfelt when remembering those loved ones who've passed away during the COVID period since the last meeting in 2019, of course.

Whatever the constitutional future of these islands, and only a fool would claim that they know what that might be, one thing is certain, people from Wales will continue to move, to live, to work and worship in London. London Welsh have played a prominent role throughout the centuries, for over 1,000 years indeed, and a number of them have taken the opportunity to promote the Welsh language, our culture and Wales’s status as a nation in that major city. So, congratulations to the Reverend Rob Nicholls and the gymanfa committee, and I look forward to another 100 years of singing Wales’s venerable hymns in England’s capital. Thank you very much.