Plastic patriotism alone won't make Wales a driver of 21st century economy - German

12.00.00am GMT Fri 24th Feb 2006

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly leader Mike German has called for Wales to be the "powerhouse of the green economy" in the 21st century in an article celebrating St David's Day.

The article, which will appear in this week's edition of The House magazine on the 27th February, calls for Wales to reject 'plastic patriotism' and instead seek for itself as meaningful a role in the economy of the 21st century as it enjoyed in the 19th.

"Our museums and history books are chock-full of our heritage as the engine of the industrial revolution," he writes. "This century we have a duty to be the powerhouse of the green economy. Wales is one of only three countries in the world with a statutory commitment to sustainable development. That is a source of pride, but pride without action is worthless. We should not only be proud of our beautiful green hills and vales but we must lead this century's green revolution. We need pride in our natural resource and potential for green action."

As well as calling for the government to step up its actions on the green economy, Mr German also calls for a wider celebration of Wales' diversity on our national day.

"I want to celebrate our differences in Wales. This century Wales is proud of our continuing and developing diversity. Our national flag and language may both be amongst Europe's oldest but Wales is no longer painted a uniform red - and nor do we want that. Our Wales should be multi coloured - in every respect - politically, socially and culturally, and we should be proud of it."