THE PSYCHOLOGY of DISTANCE Wales: One Nation
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1 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DISTANCE Wales: One Nation Phil Williams PODPRE1.PM5 1 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 2 The Psychology of Distance PODPRE1.PM5 2 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 3 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DISTANCE Wales: One Nation Phil Williams THE GREGYNOG PAPERS Volume Three Number Three Welsh Academic Press PODPRE1.PM5 3 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 4 The Psychology of Distance Published in Wales by Welsh Academic Press, an imprint of Ashley Drake Publishing Ltd PO Box 733 Cardiff CF14 6WE First Impression 2003 ISBN 1 86057 0666 ©Institute of Welsh Affairs / Prof. Phil Williams The right of Phil Williams to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright Design and Patents Act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library. PODPRE1.PM5 4 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 5 THE AUTHOR Professor Phil Williams A former National Chair of Plaid Cymru, Professor Phil Williams was the partys AM for South Wales East during the first term of the National Assembly, 1999-2003, when he served on the Economic Development, Environment Planning and Transport, and European Committees. Born in Tredegar in 1939, Professor Williams grew up in Bargoed, was educated at Lewis School, Pengam, and Clare College, Cambridge, where he completed a Ph.D. in radio astronomy. He is now professor in the Physics Department at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, specialising in Solar Terrestrial Physics. PODPRE1.PM5 5 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 6 The Psychology of Distance The Institute of Welsh Affairs exists to promote quality re- search and informed debate affecting the cultural, social, political and economic well-being of Wales. IWA is an inde- pendent organisation owing no allegiance to any political or economic interest group. Our only interest is in seeing Wales flourish as a country in which to work and live. We are funded by a range of organisations and individuals. For more infor- mation about the Institute, its publications, and how to join, either as an individual or corporate supporter, contact: IWA Institute of Welsh Affairs Ty Oldfield Llantrisant Road Llandâf Cardiff CF5 2YQ Tel 029 2057 5511 Fax 029 2057 5701 Email [email protected] Web www.iwa.org.uk PODPRE1.PM5 6 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 7 CONTENTS PREFACE viii INTRODUCTION 1 THE DIVISIONS OF WALES 4 A THREE-WAY SPLIT 9 OBJECTIVE 1 14 THE SURVIVAL OF WALES 18 STRENGTH IN DISUNITY 22 LAND OF THE BOOK 24 RÔLE OF GOVERNMENT 28 THE WELSH ECONOMY 32 DEVOLUTION 36 THE POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE UNITY OF WALES 39 MEDIA 45 WALES! WALES! 49 RÔLE OF THE ASSEMBLY 52 BRIDGING THE WEALTH GAP 56 COMMUNICATIONS 60 REACHING OUR FULL POTENTIAL 67 NOTES 69 PODPRE1.PM5 7 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 8 The Psychology of Distance PREFACE The completion of the National Assemblys first term is an opportune moment to consider, not just its record in terms of the policies and new directions of expenditure that have resulted, but its wider impact on the life and culture of the nation. This, in essence is what this Paper seeks to do. It con- cludes that the Assembly has the potential to create a unified civic culture in the face of many divisive tendencies and some- times a fractured sensibility that so often characterises the Welsh identity. The Paper utilises the concept of the psychology of distance to explore the cross currents of division that challenge our policy makers in the Assembly Government. The most quoted divide in Wales is between north and south. Yet there are great similarities between these two halves of the country. The distance between them is largely psychological, simply because their peoples so seldom meet. In respect of other divides, for instance between the poorer communities of Wales and those that are more prosperous, the physical distance is often very small. As Professor Williams points out, Cyncoed in Cardiff, by a large measure the least deprived ward in Wales, is less than 20 miles from the Gurnos estate in Merthyr, which is one of the most deprived parts of the country. Yet, as he says, the psychological barriers can be just as daunting as the barriers of distance. For the long-term unemployed living in impoverished communities such as Gurnos the prosperous parts of Cardiff must seem a million miles away: In these matters of relative separation the psychology of distance is truly at work. Without being fully conscious of such divisions we will have no chance of addressing them. This is the tenth Paper that has arisen out of a seminar held at the PODPRE1.PM5 8 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 9 Gregynog University of Wales Conference Centre near Newtown, Powys. Each seminar comprises around ten peo- ple including the author and the editor. They meet for dinner and an opening presentation by the author during a week- end evening and stay overnight. The seminar then continues the following day. The seminar out of which this Paper has been produced was held in early November 2002. In addition to Professor Williams and myself, those attending were: Professor Jane Aaron, of the University of Glamorgan; Graham Day, of the University of Wales, Bangor; Geraint Talfan Davies, Chair of the IWA; Angela Elniff-Larsen, Director of Community En- terprise Wales; Eurfyl ap Gwilym, a business consultant; Rhys Jones, of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth; David Melding, Conservative AM for South Wales Central; Professor Peter Stead, of the University of Glamorgan; and Elin Royles, of the Uni- versity of Wales, Aberystwyth. All contributed extensively to the dis- cussions. However, responsibility for the contents of this published Paper is the responsibility of the author alone. John Osmond Director, Institute of Welsh Affairs May 2003 PODPRE1.PM5 9 6/16/103, 4:28 PM 1 INTRODUCTION I write this when the identity of Wales as a separate nation is stronger than at any time in my life. The establishment of the National Assembly is obviously the most significant single change. It is associated with the growing status of the Welsh language, the emergence of Welsh civic society, and the will- ingness of over two-thirds of the resident population to iden- tify themselves as primarily Welsh. Thise is a remarkable development and sometimes I pinch myself to prove that it is not a dream. When I was a child during the Second World War it would be fair to say that, however the identity of Wales was measured, the relevant characteristics would have shown a steady decline through- out the twentieth century: the proportion of the population born in Wales, the proportion speaking Welsh, the proportion who were members of a Welsh church and probably though there are few measurements of this the proportion regarding themselves as Welsh rather than British. If my memory serves me right, in the public celebrations at the end of the war there were far more Union Jacks than Red Dragons. In the 1940s most people would have assumed this trend would continue, linked as it was with the obvious strength of those forces that divided Wales and the apparent weakness of those forces that defended the unity of Wales. In fact the reverse has happened. The results of the 2001 census show for the first time since 1911 an increase in the number of people able to speak Welsh. A large number of voluntary bodies have recently re-organised to establish in theory at least separate and distinct parts of each organisation cover- ing Wales. Moreover, the existence of Wales as a separate nation is, at POD1.PM5 1 6/16/103, 6:07 PM 2 The Psychology of Distance last, officially recognised. Of course this is within a UK con- text. We now have a Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and even an England and Wales Cricket Board, though this is still referred to as the ECB. The important semantic advance was the designation of our new legislature as the National Assembly for Wales. There are some people who think that since Scotland has a Scottish Parliament and Wales a National Assembly this represents a lower status. However, if we look at the 191 mem- bers of the United Nations we see that far-and-away the most common name for the highest elected legislature in an inde- pendent country is National Assembly, the title chosen by 57 of the UN member states, with only 15 choosing Parliament. This has redefined the exact meaning of the word national in Westminster legislation. As a result, the word is used, even by the UK Government and by Government bodies, to refer to Wales (or, of course, to England or Scotland), and the BBC frequently refers to the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. Yet confusion remains. When reference is made in the press to the national average it is not only my Welsh sensitivities that are alerted: my passion for statistical accuracy wants to know whether the figures apply to Wales, or to England-and- Wales, or to Britain, or to the UK. The fact is that to many people in England the terms England, Britain, UK and even the British Isles are more-or-less synonymous. The confusion between Britain and UK is universal. A friend in East Anglia was once offered promotion provided he was prepared to work anywhere in Britain.