I’m happy to sign, but actually I think all of the native languages - Welsh, Scots, Gaelic, Irish, etc. - should be listed in the Census for anyone to select. That would give a much more accurate linguistic picture of the UK.
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I think it’s worth remembering that the census isn’t an opinion poll or an academic attitude survey and isn’t done just out of curiosity. It’s there to gauge demographic trends in order that public policy can be better planned. If you want the different languages of the UK to be measured then you’re going to need a reason. Would policy planning (and in what areas) be improved if we knew that there were 247,126 Welsh speakers in England? I don’t know. It might help to justify future funding for S4C and Radio Cymru, but what else?
BTW, does anyone know if BSL was included in the last census? I’d imagine that has the best shout for inclusion of all the UK’s minority languages.
That on its own would be more than enough reason, wouldn’t it? 
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Yes, I think so.
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With my signature, I wrote this comment:
“I think it is only right to be able to declare that you’re a Welsh speaker - even if you do not live in Wales. I think the same also needs to be offered for ALL Celtic languages - revived or otherwise - on the UK Census, including Cornish and Manx. The Census document is for the purpose of collecting information about the residents of the UK. If key questions are missed because of geographical reasons, ie languages spoken, it isn’t painting a clear enough picture. With regards to the Welsh language, you will still be able to determine how many speakers there are in Wales from where the individual says they are living. But you will also be able to see how many other people are speakers in the UK as well.”
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Excellent suggestion! Just signed the petition.
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Why not? The census doesn’t ask if you have Welsh heritage, it just asks what language(s) you speak. If you can speak Welsh, you should be allowed to indicate that, just as a Polish person who speaks English would indicate that on his census.
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I signed from Canada in order to support those in the UK who should be offered this option, in order to support S4C funding, and in order to support myself when I finally move back to Wales.
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The petition is doing really well. Creeping up to 1000 names now. Here’s Rhys’ latest message.
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by analysing the number of Welsh born Welsh speakers in England it might give an indication of the scale of Welsh speakers being lost from Wales through migration to England and maybe the changes over time could be used to assess the success of policies to retain them (by analysing the employment of these people, the government could try to encourage these sectors in Wales to encourage these people to stay)
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Dee put it in the newsletter soon after I started the thread. ️ Only 14 away from 1000! A brilliant response. ️
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When I was signing this petition, I thought I would go on the ONS website to look at the original question and how the figures were calculated, so I put ‘How many people speak Welsh’ into the search. This is the response that came back:
It offered me ‘how male people steam welsh’ as an alternative search!
@aran @Iestyn please tell me how you do it. Being female, I think I’m missing out.
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But I probably shouldn’t be lol, as the ONS site clearly needs some work to make it fit for purpose!!
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It’s important to steam a little Welsh every day.
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Steam Something in Welsh!
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