While I agree with you about the general deplorability of Hamilton, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea that people want to judge if other people are “Welsh enough”.
I lived and worked in London for over a decade, I have a very English accent, and my wife is English. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been allowed back in either?
smiley-face
Neil Hamilton doesn’t want to come back in!
He continues to live in England, and wants the Welsh taxpayer to pay for his commuting to Wales.
You are right, of course, that Welshness is a state of mind, and considering yourself to be Welsh is the most important thing.
Normally, I would hang well back from making judgments on such a thing (or rather, hang back from telling other people what my opinions are), but he is a politician who has shown such little interest in Wales and Welsh issues until this opportunity for his (or rather his wife’s) career popped up, that I think it is reasonable to point it out.
He does seem to have had as little interest in Wales as Stephen Kinnock did until his appointment, and with politicians it is relevant when people with no ability or interest are parachuted into positions like that, as it can have a terrible effect on the country that we all live in. (Or don’t, in Mostyn Neil Hamilton’s case.)
That’s a much better stick to beat him with.
To @dave_5 I am truly sorry. it never occurred to me that my words could be taken to mean a criticism of anyone following their hiraeth home. As I lived most of my life in England and am currently fighting my hiraeth in Scotland, I assure you I envy you, I certainly understand you.
Oh, and I truly didn’t know NH didn’t want to live in his constituency. It would never have crossed my mind that anyone could not want to live there, It is so varied, so lovely… I’d give my eye teeth to live in its least salubrious place! I presumed he had some problem selling in England and was trying to sort out his finances. (I do know what it is like to be in that position).
But my main problem is that I could never have generalised from NH to anyone else! I am sure you have not failed in libel suits because the evidence for your misconduct was too strong. You did not have a very decent man, a journalist, so horrified at the idea of you being re-elected as a Tory MP that he stood against you on an anti-corruption ticket, You did not have the other parties stand down to give Martin Bell a free run at you. You were not defeated by 11,000 votes in what had been a safe Tory seat. And, having been forced to stand down and not try to represent the Tories at the next election, you didn’t suddenly appear as a UKIP Candidate in Mid and West Wales!
Also, I am sure you do not sound as NH does at any interview or First Minister’s Questions I have heard… as if he is the only one who is right!
Sorry everyone, but I was ashamed to find the NH was actually Welsh. If I made you feel ashamed of me…well, I’d find a stone to crawl under. He jumps on top and blames everyone else. (In my opinion).
@aran Delete this if I am beyond the pale with it. I admire Christine Hamilton for making a living at being a battle axe. I just am one!
Though I agree with you, I’m not sure we ought to bang on about it to much, or he might actually move back. That’s something no one would want.
OFF TOPIC - And as I guess you already know Quenya is based on Finnish. Tolkien seems to have had a special love for Finnish and Welsh.
{discovering Finnish had been like “entering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before”}
[“Most English-speaking people … will admit that ‘cellar door’ is beautiful, especially if dissociated from its sense and from its spelling. More beautiful than, say, ‘sky’, and far more beautiful than ‘beautiful’ … Well then, in Welsh, for me cellar doors are extraordinarily frequent, and moving to the higher dimension, the words in which there is pleasure in the contemplation of the association of form and sense are abundant.”
Well, if it measures fluency, excellent expression of points, good grammar and the ability to ‘sound’ like a native speaker, you should get whatever the top mark is!! (I doubt they ever give 100% for a language!).
Diolch yn fawr for your contribution. @aran, @Iestyn is there any way of sending the contributions on this thread, or at least the best of them, to the Senedd?
Hah! I wish… Sadly it’s literature, my worst enemy.
Ouch. Hell, I failed English Literature; I don’t see it as anything to be ashamed of. I just never saw the point of analysing poetry.
Incidentally, your earlier post is an example of why I’m not convinced that Welsh as a compulsory school subject is a good idea - certainly not once a kid gets to choosing which GCSEs to do. A lot of kids who would probably choose to keep using Welsh were it optional end up resenting the fact that that they’re being forced to do it, and then resolve to never use the language again once they leave school. Once we’ve lost a speaker to that, it may take many years for them to reconsider, or they might never reconsider. I have to ask, what is the point of making somebody study Welsh in school if they’re going to resent it later and they leave school unable to speak the language anyway?
@Novem if i ever get half as good at welsh as your english i swear i will never speak a word of english again unless i have to.
As Iestyn said in the initial post:
‘The policymakers will have a look through this thread and use your responses here as part of the consultation process, so don;t contribute if you don;t want the government to hear you!’
That’s why I’m being more strict than usual about clearing out the off-topic stuff - don’t want it to prevent anyone from reading the rest of it carefully.
Sorr didnt realise.
No worries 
But his english is better than.mine.!
Oh, diolch @aran That’ll teach me not to read properly!! I’d totally missed that bit! I knew you’d moved a lot, but I didn’t think it didn’t deserve to go by usual rules!! (At least my bits!). NB I do hope you get to meet our Finnish friend. She is an inspiration to me!
Oooops her english
You could say the same about maths.
Yes but you’d be wrong 
(Athro mathemateg ydw i)
I think people use math after school more than they realize. Just because you’re not doing the same exercises anymore, doesn’t mean you don’t use what you’ve learnt.
Maybe, I don’t know… I’m still at school. That’s just what I imagine it’s like and what my mom has told me.
I’m also very biased, as math is my favourite subject 
Sense at last.