Addressing the Spring Forum at the Welsh Conference, Mohammad Asghar AM, Shadow Minister for Heritage in the National Assembly for Wales said:
Bore Da. Croeso.
It gives me enormous pleasure to stand here today.
As we all know, we are heading into a hugely important period for the Welsh Conservatives; culminating in the National Assembly elections in May.
And it is the support from you – our loyal members – that means I know we can achieve great things again.
We will enter the election with a fantastic set of policies.
I was so proud to launch our main polices on Heritage this week.
That launch came on Saint David’s Day – and making that day a Bank Holiday for the people of Wales is one of our key priorities.
This will give more people the opportunity to celebrate our rich heritage and culture with family and friends.
In recent years, public events celebrating Saint David’s Day have become increasingly commonplace.
Designating March 1st as a Bank Holiday would ensure everyone has the opportunity to celebrate and appreciate the wealth of historical culture offered in Wales.
It is unfortunate the existing Assembly Government has done little to try and make this happen.
Wales is a fantastic nation with so much to offer – and we’d like to show this to the world.
Major sporting events are a great way to do this. The Ryder Cup has been and gone, but we now want to see more.
That’s why we’re also committed to supporting bids from Wales to host a Uefa Champions League final and the Commonwealth Games.
Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium is a fantastic arena and would do a Champions League final proud.
Bringing the Commonwealth Games here could have a tremendous impact on the Welsh economy.
It would also increase participation in a range of sporting activities; and give Welsh people the chance to watch the world’s top athletes in competition.
This Assembly Government has failed to properly sell Wales to overseas markets.
We will change that.
We would implement an integrated, cutting-edge branding strategy.
This would properly promote Wales to the rest of the UK, to Europe and to the world as a tremendous, world-class destination for culture, tourism and business.
On top of that, we want people to have access to important historical information about Wales.
That’s why we’d look to open a Welsh National Archive by transferring records from London to Wales.
This would have immense symbolic importance.
It would also offer opportunities for cultural tourism and provide access to a designated catalogue of Welsh-related records and historical archives.
For too many years, Wales has lagged at the bottom of too many league tables.
We’ve got so much to offer – and our commitment is to properly promote our rich Heritage.
Wales also has its own beautiful language.
The Welsh Conservatives are wholly committed to creating a bilingual nation – and it is my pleasure to introduce Paul Davies, Assembly Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire, to provide a keynote speech on our innovative proposals for the Welsh language.
