Rishi Sunak clashes with Michael Sheen as PM refuses to use Brecon Beacons’ Welsh name

Rishi Sunak refused to use the Welsh name for the Brecon Beacons today as he dismissed a celebrity-backed campaign to abandon he English title for the mountain range.

The Prime Minister said he believed ‘most people’ would ignore the move to return to to the original name for the scenic uplands to distance them from climate change.

The park switched to using its Welsh name, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, earlier this month, as its management claimed the association with a wood-burning, carbon-emitting blazing ‘beacon’ was ‘not a good look’. 

The campaign was backed by Welsh actor Michael Sheen, famed for playing characters including Tony Blair on stage and screen.

Speaking ahead of the Welsh Conservative conference in Mr Sheen’s home town of Newport, Mr Sunak told BBC Wales he was a ‘big supporter of the Welsh language and Welsh culture’.

But he added: ‘When it comes to the Brecon Beacons, the first thing to say is this is an internationally renowned place to visit, attracts visitors from all around the world.

‘It’s something we’re all really proud of across the UK. I’m going to keep calling it the Brecon Beacons, and I would imagine most people will do that too.’

The park switched to using its Welsh name, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, earlier this month, as its management claimed the association with a wood-burning, carbon-emitting blazing ‘beacon’ was ‘not a good look’.

The campaign was backed by Welsh actor Michael Sheen, famed for playing characters including Tony Blair on stage and screen.

The decision to revert to the original Welsh name was criticised by senior Tories as a symbolic attempt to look ‘trendy’ which could ‘undermine’ the region’s international identity.

The Welsh name for the region translates as ‘peaks of Brychan’s kingdom’ – a reference to the fifth-century king in the region. It is pronounced Ban-eye Bruck-ein-iog – or the Bannau for short.

Last week, Downing Street said it expected people to carry on using the Brecon Beacons name and actions ‘rather than nomenclature’ were the key to tackling climate change.

‘The public, I’m sure, will continue to … use both the English and the Welsh names,’ the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has expressed concern about the rebranding, saying there had been ‘no consultation’ and it would ‘always be known by (Brecon Beacons) to so many around the world’.

Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: ‘The Beacons are as recognisable outside of Wales as they are here. Why undermine that?’

Tory MP Sir Robert Goodwill said that place names like ‘Coalville’ or ‘Blackburn’ might be equally at risk under the logic of avoiding links to carbon-emissions.  

The Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales was established in 1957, under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.

The park has two purposes under law – those being to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the park; and to promote opportunities for the enjoyment and understanding of its special qualities.

Going back to 5500BC in Middle Stone Age times, hunter-gatherers cut down scrub and burned the aftermath to create small grassland areas so animals could graze and be hunted.

By the New Stone Age there was farming and the end of the Bronze Age there had been big forest clearances.

In the Iron Age, Celtic peoples arrived and brought much better farming processes including hill forts. The Romans and Normans later conquered the area – with the latter’s manorial system being consolidated in the Middle Ages. 

From the end of the 15th century industries such as ironmaking and charcoal burning began to emerge – while more recent decades have seen urban expansion, road construction, and reservoir building.

The national park area now covers 520 square miles, which much of this being upland and two-thirds of the area comprised of old red sandstone rocks.