Sir : Although I am not a regular subscriber to
your periodical, I feel obliged to sample a little of what you have to oiler from time to time. It was with great delight that I came across Tibor Szamuely's recent review of two books on the destruction of the Ukrainian nation, since the views expressed by that gentle- man, and no doubt endorsed by your readers as being the right and proper reaction of any civilised person to the wanton destruction of the identity of a nation, were also a damning indidtment of the role of English government in Wales.
Mr Szamuely uses the phrase 'gradual physical extermination' to describe the process whereby the population of the Ukraine re- mained static between 1913 and 1959. Are your readers aware that the population of Wales did not increase during that same period?
He goes on to relate how many higher educa- tional institutions in the Ukraine have more Russian than Ukrainian students. Are you aware that Welsh students are a minority in their own University of Wales? And when he speaks of almost every public activity of importance being conducted in the Russian language he is outlining a situation identical with that in Wales, the only difference being that in Wales the destruction of the nation has proceeded further, to the extent that only a minority of the people can speak their own native language.
Finally, I should like to quote his description of the Republics of the Soviet Union as being `without their native language in the adminis- tration, without international contacts and with- out even the right to intervene in the economy of their own territory.' Who can deny that this is also true of Wales?
The lesson must be clear. Anyone who de- plores the policy of the Russian government in their 'colony,' the Ukraine, must also deplore the policy of Westminster government in Wales. The fact that this policy is endorsed by many who call themselves 'Welshmen' is irrelevant; no doubt there is the same attitude at work in all areas where a nation is being absorbed by a larger neighbour. The case for nationalism is equally valid whether the nation in question is the. Ukraine, Wales, Catalonia or anywhere else. The only barrier to its being accepted as such is the 'liberal' double standard to which Tibor Szamuely refers so astutely, i.e. that 'the only form of oppression is of whites over blacks and the sole type of empire the overseas variety.'
I thank Mr Szamuely and the SPECTATOR for their services to Wales and to the cause of national freedom throughout the world.
Keith Bush 6 Maesyrawel, Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales.
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