From "The Guardian" of Wednesday March 2nd, in the "Diary" section written by Maev Kennedy (a not entirely serious column): "Tomorrow is St. Winwaloe's Day. But you knew that, of course. Welsh MP's will celebrate the Saint by debating Welsh affairs while choking on their leeks. Yesterday, being St. David's Day, was given over to a Liberal Democrat opposition day debate. I hope you are following this, because it produced a historic alliance between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru MP's, united in affront at the traditional St. David's Day Welsh debate being transferred to March 3. Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West, further marked the national holiday by establishing that Wales has annexed Cornwall. He put down a question, demanding that the Heritage Secretary outline his plans "to increase the use of British languages that belong to the Brythonic and Goidelic families of languages". He heard yesterday that the question was being transferred to the Welsh Secretary. Honestly, he sniffed in gleeful outrage, and he'd even told them on the phone that the Brythonic language he was referring to was Cornish. However he sees a bright side. "Centuries ago, Wales and Cornwall were ancient allies against the pagan Saxon barbarians, and I am grateful that the Government has given the go-ahead for a renewal of this historic partnership." " -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Briony Williams briony@uk.ac.ed.cstr (JANET) Centre for Speech Technology Research, briony@cstr.ed.ac.uk 80 South Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1HN, UK. Tel: (0)31 650 2790 (A quarter-Irish Englishwoman working on Welsh in Scotland)