Welsh are 'the best English speakers'

They are renowned for celebrating their own language, as well as the power of their poetry and the glory of their choirs. Now the Welsh have been praised for speaking English sometimes better than the English themselves.

The writer and journalist Andrew Taylor says in a new book that the finest English can often be spoken by a Welshman. He cites the actor Richard Burton, the poet Dylan Thomas and the broadcasters Huw Edwards and John Humphrys as examples of the best speakers of English.

In his book, A Plum in Your Mouth, published this week by HarperCollins, Mr Taylor says that despite some studies which say the Welsh accent is unpopular: "As far as I am concerned... the Welsh, probably in revenge for the way the English steamrollered their own tongue for generations, speak English like angels. They can take the language gallantly by the hand and dance with it, leading it to and fro, up and down and relishing every word.''

He said yesterday: "I just like the way the Welsh speak English. I think this is because Welsh itself is a language where every syllable is pronounced separately and so when the Welsh speak English you can hear the words very clearly."