Mathew Parris is a ****** [Edited by Win2Win]

[Amaw2008]

Journalist Mathew Parris writes for a number of papers, and I agree with very little of what he says. One of his more ludicrous articles a few years back was a tirade against Welsh language signs and broadcasts. Apparently, he arrived at Newport station one minute before his train and missed it because the announcement was in Welsh. He said that there are more Polish speakers in Newport which I find a dubious statistic, because even in south Wales one in ten speaks Welsh. I'm all for the signs; my mahal has relatives in North Wales and the signs make it a little bit exciting and exotic every time we cross the border. Despite my joke about Scottish Gaelic in the humour section, I'm all for the signs there as well, so long as they are in the Highlands only. Language is the core of culture and as valuable as bricks and mortar, the Parrises of this world think only of short term costs (not that high anyway). Maybe Blenheim Palace and the Tower of London are old and inefficient to heat; how about pulling them down? I wonder if he would have made such a fuss if his train was in France or Germany. By the way, in case anyone here thinks I am sucking up to all things Welsh, I am totally against those fanatics who destroyed English-owned property back in the eighties, as well as ill mannered snobs like Parris. What we need is a bit of mutual respect and good-neighbourliness between the UK nations, apart from when six nations matches are played. "Shwmae, neis gweld chi".

[somebody]

Wales exciting and exotic need a bit more than some Signs in Welsh

Beautiful Countryside I will agree

[bornatbirth]

i thought matthew parrish liked heads

they have to write something,can you image living in england ....oh i mean the uk and some talks in another language

[somebody]

i thought matthew parrish liked heads

they have to write something,can you image living in england ....oh i mean the uk and some talks in another language

What scouse

[walesrob]

Apparently, he arrived at Newport station one minute before his train and missed it because the announcement was in Welsh.

That makes him a liar. He knows full well all train annoucements are bilingual in Wales, and compared to other Welsh towns or cities, Newport has a far larger percentage of English speakers, I know, I was born there and I lived and worked there

I am totally against those fanatics who destroyed English-owned property back in the eighties.

Ah yeah Meibion Glyndwr http://ezinearticles.com/?Burning-Do...gons&id=879245 , who along with Free Army of Wales were really a bunch of misguided Welsh nationalists who thought the IRA were funky. These days we have Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg http://cymdeithas.org/ whose main pastime is pouring glue into locks of businesses who refuse/don't have bilingual signage in their shops. Happens quite a lot in Aberystwyth. We laugh about it, always wondering which shop or bank will be next.

What we need is a bit of mutual respect and good-neighbourliness between the UK nations, apart from when six nations matches are played. "Shwmae, neis gweld chi".

As long as we beat the English, thats what matters.

[IainBusby]

I can remember when Mathew Parris was a young conservative MP. After spouting a load of tosh about the unemployed (of which there were about 3 million at that time) and how gererous their unemployment benefits were, took up a challenge from some tv documentary program makers to go and live on a council estate on basic dole money for a week or a fortnight. I remember him trying to juggle whether to put some money in the electric meter or buy something to eat, because by the end of the week he couldn't afford to do both.

He soon changed his tune about the gererousity of the benefit system.

[Northerner]

I can remember when Mathew Parris was a young conservative MP. After spouting a load of tosh about the unemployed (of which there were about 3 million at that time) and how gererous their unemployment benefits were, took up a challenge from some tv documentary program makers to go and live on a council estate on basic dole money for a week or a fortnight. I remember him trying to juggle whether to put some money in the electric meter or buy something to eat, because by the end of the week he couldn't afford to do both.

He soon changed his tune about the gererousity of the benefit system.

Didn't Michael Portillo do something similar? He looked after a bunch of kids like a single parent on benefits. He said it was eye opening!

[Northerner]

I can remember when Mathew Parris was a young conservative MP. After spouting a load of tosh about the unemployed (of which there were about 3 million at that time) and how gererous their unemployment benefits were, took up a challenge from some tv documentary program makers to go and live on a council estate on basic dole money for a week or a fortnight. I remember him trying to juggle whether to put some money in the electric meter or buy something to eat, because by the end of the week he couldn't afford to do both.

He soon changed his tune about the gererousity of the benefit system.

Speaking of which... Mel B does the same thing here Kinda..

[IainBusby]

Didn't Michael Portillo do something similar? He looked after a bunch of kids like a single parent on benefits. He said it was eye opening!

To his credit Mathew Parris done it for real, just like a typical single bloke, he lived in a one bedroomed flat and had to go to the supermarket and try to buy enough to feed himself for the two weeks, pay for his electricity through a meter and take his washing to the launderette, all on his fortnights giro money. He just about managed to get by, but that was only for a fortnight and he hadn't saved any money towards clothes or shoes etc, he'd only spent money on the absolute basics and he certainly didn't have enough money to travel around looking for a job.

[IainBusby]

Speaking of which... Mel B does the same thing here Kinda..

Yea I seen that. But I think benefits are more generous these days and especially for families. I think single men and women still get a lot less in real terms.

[Amaw2008]

As long as we beat the English, thats what matters. [/QUOTE]



Well, ya didn't"Swing low, sweet chariot..."

[walesrob]

Well, ya didn't"Swing low, sweet chariot..."