Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood has succeeded in getting Wales’ status as a country confirmed in the eyes of the international community.
The South Wales Central AM has successfully lobbied for Wales to be given ‘country’ status after it was pointed out to her that an influential newsletter for the international community conferred principality status upon Wales.
The amendment could be made in time for the publication of the next edition of the newsletter by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) which describes itself as the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards and a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries.
Dai Barnaby, a constituent from Llantrisant, first alerted Ms Wood to the error last year. Since then, the AM from Penygraig, Rhondda, has written to the Counsel General, the First Minister, the ISO and the British Standards Institute (BSI), who are responsible for supplying information to the ISO, in order to get the anachronistic description of Wales updated.
The term principality refers to a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state whose ruling monarch is a prince or a princess with an executive role in administering the state. Since the Prince of Wales has no role in administrative control over Wales and has not done for centuries, the term is archaic in constitutional terms.
The offending ISO Newsletter described the United Kingdom as consisting of two countries; England and Scotland, with Northern Ireland described as a province and Wales a principality.
In correspondence to Ms Wood, the chairman of the BSI, Paul Woodman, said:
“The ISO 3166-2 entry originated in a traditional understanding of the status of Wales as given in reference works such as the 1976 Oxford Illustrated Dictionary. Earlier this year we were alerted by the Welsh Assembly Government to the fact that the notion of Wales as a principality is now outdated, and that Wales should properly be considered a country.
“Having subsequently received an official statement to this effect from that Government, I wrote on behalf of BSI to the ISO Secretariat in Geneva to request that a change be made in ISO 3166-2 from principality to country at the first available opportunity.
“This opportunity will very probably come when the next ISO 3166-2 Newsletter is issued, which I expect will be within the next few months. So please be assured that this alteration is indeed in hand and is in the process of being made as swiftly as possible.”
After contacting the First Minister’s office, Ms Wood also secured a concession from Carwyn Jones to “continue to liaise with the ISO to confirm that the change of status for Wales from ‘principality’ to ‘country’ is included within the next edition of the newsletter.”
Mr Barnaby, who is an editor on Wikipedia in his spare time, campaigned to get the status changed after getting dragged into long and drawn-out debates about Wales’ status with fellow editors.
“Noting Wales as a principality has no modern geographical or constitutional basis and is contrary to the views of the Welsh Government, academics, commentators, historians and the Welsh population,” said Mr Barnaby.
“The Principality of Wales existed only between 1216 and 1542 and its area was significantly different to that of modern Wales. I was also concerned that noting Wales as a principality may lead people to believe that the Prince of Wales may have some constitutional role in Wales, or that Wales’ status could be considered to be less than that of the countries of Scotland or England.”
He added: “That the British Government and the ISO describe Wales as a country is a welcome move that will help maintain the status quo and may prove to be one of the stepping stones needed for Wales to be included with other countries.
“Time will tell. Nevertheless, I am very grateful to Leanne Wood and her staff, that she accepted my concerns as being legitimate, that she took the time and trouble to do something about it on my behalf and, that due to her persistence, this outcome was achieved.”
Ms Wood said:
“I hope this, once for all, puts to an end to the debate on whether Wales is a country or a Principality. Wales is a country and has been for a long time. Now that we have proper law-making powers for our legislature, I think it is time we consigned any references of Wales being a Principality to the rubbish bin.
“To some people this matter may seem inconsequential but there is a lot of misunderstanding and ignorance about Wales, especially outside of Europe.
“Inaccuracies like the one printed in the last edition of the ISO Newsletter, no matter how esoteric the publication is, can engender a false impression of Wales and fuel ignorance.
“Furthermore, given that this document was circulated to a key council of the United Nations, it had the potential to damage our reputation on an international stage among a select band of very influential people.
“I hope this message will be received loud and clear by Cheryl Gillan, the Secretary of State for Wales, as she has, in the past, referred to Wales as being “both a principality and a country” as did David Cameron, who recently referred to Wales as being a principality during a speech to the Welsh Conservative Party conference.
“If they want to be taken seriously this side of Offa’s Dyke they need to at least get their facts straight about Wales.”
