…de la Mail on Sunday:
A high street bank was criticised last night after it rejected a cheque for a religious pilgrimage simply because it was written in Welsh.
The cheque, for almost £22,000, was supposed to pay for the travel and accommodation costs of a group of 50 pilgrims commemorating a journey made by a Welsh saint to Spain almost 400 years ago.
But the trip has been thrown into doubt after Barclays Bank refused four times to cash the cheque, made out to tour operator Tours for Churches Ltd, because it was written in Welsh.
Hywel Williams, Plaid Cymru MP for Caernarfon, North Wales, said he was 'astonished and outraged' at the delay, which he claimed highlighted the need for stricter laws on Welsh language rights.
'The bank are rightly proud of their Welsh language policy which allows people to use the language in their day to day banking affairs,' he said.
'But it is useless if this sort of thing happens repeatedly. This matter is of significance as it highlights the need for new rights for the Welsh language, a matter which is now before the Welsh Assembly.'…
A high street bank was criticised last night after it rejected a cheque for a religious pilgrimage simply because it was written in Welsh.
The cheque, for almost £22,000, was supposed to pay for the travel and accommodation costs of a group of 50 pilgrims commemorating a journey made by a Welsh saint to Spain almost 400 years ago.
But the trip has been thrown into doubt after Barclays Bank refused four times to cash the cheque, made out to tour operator Tours for Churches Ltd, because it was written in Welsh.
Hywel Williams, Plaid Cymru MP for Caernarfon, North Wales, said he was 'astonished and outraged' at the delay, which he claimed highlighted the need for stricter laws on Welsh language rights.
'The bank are rightly proud of their Welsh language policy which allows people to use the language in their day to day banking affairs,' he said.
'But it is useless if this sort of thing happens repeatedly. This matter is of significance as it highlights the need for new rights for the Welsh language, a matter which is now before the Welsh Assembly.'…
No comments:
Post a Comment