[Scotland] Gaelic-Speaking Only Will Get A House.

[BIAD]

The fracturing continues... 

SNP minister condemned for plan to BAN English-only speakers from Scottish housing estates

'The SNP has come under fire for after a member of Nicola Sturgeon's Cabinet backed plans to create
housing developments in Scotland where only those who speak Gaelic can live.


Kate Forbes doesn't like anyone who speaks foreign to Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon’s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes backed a proposal for housing developments where residents
must speak Gaelic, or commit to learning it. The concept by language campaigners would see English-only
speaking people banned from living in the developments, which could be widely prominent across the Scottish
Highlands.

Currently, only around one percent of the population can speak any Gaelic, meaning most Scots would be barred
from applying to live there unless they committed to learning it.
Ms Forbes said: “This is probably the most controversial thing I’ll say to you – I would be very supportive of that.

“There are big issues in terms of conflict with equalities legislation, because of perceived discrimination.
“But I think we need to take increasingly positive action and intervene in trying to support Gaelic-speaking communities.

“The one caveat I’d make to that is that you cannot artificially create communities. “So right now I would far rather focus
on saving what we have.” MSP Alexander Stewart, the Scottish Tories Housing spokesman, labeled Ms Forbes's comments
as  “unhelpful”. He added: “Housing should be available on a needs basis for Scots, not on if you speak English or Gaelic
over the breakfast table.

“With the SNP Government on track to miss their affordable housing target, the focus should be on delivering roofs over
people’s heads rather than unhelpful ideas.” Ms Forbes, the MSP for Skye and Lochaber, speaks Gaelic fluently and has
bemoaned the decline of the language, adding: “Gaelic is extremely fragile right now.”

According to the 2011 Scottish census, 57,375 people (1.1 percent of those aged three or over) reported as able to speak
Gaelic. Academics from the University of the Highlands and Islands said Gaelic is "in crisis, and that within remaining vernacular
communities of Scotland, the social use and transmission of Gaelic is at the point of collapse".

They claim the language could be dead by 2030 unless the Scottish government takes radical action to save it.
Professor Conchur O Giollagain, a professor of Gaelic research at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness, added:
"Our statistical evidence indicates that the Gaelic vernacular community is comprised of around 11,000 people, of which a majority
are in the 50 years and over age category.

"The decline of the Gaelic community, as especially shown in the marginal practice of Gaelic in families and among teenagers,
indicates that without a community-wide revival of Gaelic, the trend towards the loss of vernacular Gaelic will continue.”...'

The Express: