by Julian Ruck
Yes it’s true, I’m not joking! The Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru (for all you English speakers, the Home Rule Army of Wales as was Plaid in its original combustible form) is sadly lacking in geographical awareness. It’s official.
And how do I know this? Well now, it seems one soldier of the Army of Home Rulers (take that for those who want a Welsh only speaking sovereign state of Wales), the venerable and not so loquacious Jill Evans Plaid Cymru MEP, has apparently only spoken some 13 times to European Parliamentary plenary sessions in Strasbourg since June 2009, whilst her fellow Welsh MEP’s have each made between 187 and 227 contributions.
Quality not quantity you may be thinking? But some of her questions have related to the independence (funnily enough!) of a former Spanish colony in Africa and financial support for a Frisian language theatre (again funnily enough) – hints here I think of a minority Welsh language kindred spirit perhaps? Oh and not forgetting her question relating to Chagossians.
Chagossians? Yes I know, apparently the late Saunders Lewis, that old Plaid Cymru war-horse, hero of nationalist endeavour and pyrotechnic genius, albeit that his propensity for arson landed him in the Scrubs, had dropped in on the Chagossians for a pint of Felinfoel Double Dragon ale when he had got lost in the Indian Ocean, so the story goes. He had only gone out to buy a gallon of paraffin too!
Now, you may be wondering what Jill Evans is all about? I mean, isn’t she supposed to be representing the Welsh and raising Welsh issues? Not so, it would seem. Minority languages and the plight of Chagossians seem to be her order of priorities. This being the case, one has to ask whether the Rhonddian fire-brand, Leanne Wood – I hear she now has some English (god forbid!) elocution and make-over gurus in tow – is equally shy of atlas absorbing, because Plaid Cymru certainly seems to have difficulty deciding the order of its geographical priorities.