Botwm y Byd

I came across a rather interesting press release yesterday from Trinity St David about the launch of what it describes as a multi-disciplinary project encompassing modern languages, international politics and media.

        

botwm-y-byd.org – the world in Welsh

•  A round-up of world news
•  Chat and discussions on world affairs
•  Interactive exercises to improve French, German and Spanish language skills
•  Educational resources for media and politics students
•  Blogs on fashion, bands, football and more
     ... and all through the medium of Welsh

Botwm y Byd is a multi-disciplinary project, including a website, which provides online resources through the medium of Welsh for secondary school and university students studying Modern Languages, International Politics and Media.

Botwm y Byd allows users to listen to roundups of main news items from around the globe and to discuss international affairs. In addition, there are blogs on fashion, films, bands and sport and all through the medium of Welsh. There’s also an opportunity for students to improve their language skills in French, German and Spanish through interactive exercises.

The website is divided into four sections:

Byd Bach (Small World) sees contributors providing roundups from news items in less than 10 minutes from various countries. In Pedwar Ban (Four Corners), four contributors, led by journalist Dylan Iorwerth, discuss main news items from around the world. Fy Myd i (My World) is home to the blog spot where voices from around the world comment on fashion, film and bands, bringing their international perspective to Welsh readers.

In addition, the Educational Resources section provides an opportunity to improve language skills in French, German and Spanish.

It's worth visiting the website if only to hear Richard Wyn Jones speak Norwegian.

Thatcher made things worse, not better

In the last couple of weeks, I have been amazed at how much re-writing of history has been done by the Tories to justify what Margaret Thatcher did when she was in power. Here is one blatant example of it from Amanda Platell on Question Time last night:

     

What she said may well have got a huge round of applause, but it was completely wrong, as this table shows:

Ten Largest Economies by Nominal GDP
	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Source

The UK was bumbling along as the sixth largest economy in the world for the decade before Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979. When she left office in 1990 the UK had not risen in the rankings at all, but in fact dropped to seventh, overtaken by Italy. The UK did rise to fourth place, but only a decade after she had left office.

The UK's economy and its place in the world suffered as a result of Margaret Thatcher's policies. She did not rescue the UK, she made things worse.