Welsh Europeans takes a fresh look at the identity and future of Wales as a new century approaches.
There is a gulf between the ability of the Welsh people to have any real say over how they are governed and the Quango-driven government they endure. There is an increasing contradiction between Welshness and Britishness. Living with this contradiction is becoming less easy in the 1990s, since the meaning of Britishness is being drained away. It has been a long process but now it is accelerating as the European dimension of our affairs gathers pace. "In the past we have been Welsh British subjects," says the author. "In future we can become Welsh European citizens".
John Osmond has been a leading journalist, tv producer and commentator on the Welsh scene since the early 1970s, and is the author of several books on Welsh politics and society. A past chairman of the Welsh Union of Writers, he has been chairman of the Parliament for Wales Campaign since 1991 and is a founder member of the Council of Charter 88. He is currently Director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs.
There is a gulf between the ability of the Welsh people to have any real say over how they are governed and the Quango-driven government they endure. There is an increasing contradiction between Welshness and Britishness. Living with this contradiction is becoming less easy in the 1990s, since the meaning of Britishness is being drained away. It has been a long process but now it is accelerating as the European dimension of our affairs gathers pace. "In the past we have been Welsh British subjects," says the author. "In future we can become Welsh European citizens".
John Osmond has been a leading journalist, tv producer and commentator on the Welsh scene since the early 1970s, and is the author of several books on Welsh politics and society. A past chairman of the Welsh Union of Writers, he has been chairman of the Parliament for Wales Campaign since 1991 and is a founder member of the Council of Charter 88. He is currently Director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs.