Llew Smith

A government minister has condemned Plaid Cymru for being a party of "right-wing language extremists".

The accusation came from Wales Office minister Don Touhig as he responded to a Westminster Hall debate on racism in Welsh politics in which Labour MPs launched a sustained attack on the Welsh nationalists.

Noting the recent experience in other parts of Europe, he warned that such attitudes could be "extremely dangerous" to democratic politics.

Beginning the debate, Labour backbencher Llew Smith condemned nationalists for being anti-English.

"The nationalists have always seen conspiracies everywhere to destroy Welsh tradition and the Welsh nation, and almost invariably they were the fault of the English," he said.

The Blaenau Gwent MP, who said his father's side of the family came from England, slammed the history of nationalism which included criticising the evacuation of children from London to Wales during the Second World War, and said they had still not "seen the light".

But Smith said nationalists were happy to demand money from the English. "Where cash is concerned, their principles go out of the window."

"Nationalists in Wales are demanding we dump our shared geography," he said.

And he slammed Plaid Cymru's nationalism of "bigotry and prejudice".

"Is this the kind of philosophy we want our children to inherit?" he asked.

His condemnation was followed by another assault from Labour's Caerphilly MP Wayne David.

"There is a strong strand of racism, of xenophobia, in Plaid Cymru's history," he said.

He called upon nationalists "to unite Welsh speakers so we have one Welsh nation" and to denounce the "racism and xenophobia that's inherent in Plaid Cymru".

Responding to the debate for the government, Islwyn's Don Touhig said that all politicians "have a responsibility to use our words carefully".

"The Welsh language should be used to unite the people of Wales and not divide us," he said.

And he warned that driving away non-Welsh speakers would damage the prospects of communities across Wales.

"Every intemperate attack on so-called outsiders...can only worsen the opportunities of Welsh communities getting the investment they need to secure the future of those communities," said Touhig.

He condemned the "lunatics" responsible for "English go home" graffiti and attacked the "sheer lack of leadership of the Welsh nationalist party" for failing to condemn it.

"The heart of Plaid Cymru is a core of right-wing language extremists," said Touhig.

Shadow Welsh secretary Nigel Evans also joined the attack, saying those making anti-English remarks would do "enormous damage even though they are in a small minority".

Responding to the attacks, Plaid Cymru MP Simon Thomas accused the Labour MPs of failing to address the serious issues of racially-motivated crime in Wales, the problems of asylum seekers and unemployment among minority ethnic groups.

"This is a disgraceful debate," said the Ceredigion MP.