Changing places

Date: 23/11/1995

What is a Scot doing running the Wales European Centre? What, for that matter, is an Englishman doing running Scotland Europa? Whatever happened to regional pride and ethnic purity? Bravely forsaken in the interests of British, if not European integration, it seems.

Jim Hughes is the Scottish director of the Welsh outpost in Brussels. Despite a kilts-and-haggis accent, this economics academic from Glasgow University has impeccable credentials, because he used to run the Development Board for Rural Wales.

He is also above reproach because he speaks good Welsh, as he demonstrated at a recent social gathering. He was chatting away happily to a group of cocktail guests, one of whom realised that Mrs Hughes, a non-Welsh speaker, was feeling a bit left out. The guest therefore engaged her in conversation in English, unaware of just what a relief it was to the host's wife. “It's so nice to find someone else who doesn't speak Welsh,” confided Mrs Hughes.

Meanwhile Charlie Woods, the English head of Scotland Europa, has received the highest accolade: one staunchly Scottish acquaintance of Charlie's, when asked what he thought about a Sassenach being in charge of Scotland's unofficial 'embassy' in Brussels, replied: “Charlie? English? To be honest it had never really occurred to me.”