The future of the Welsh language is the responsibility of the whole of Wales, not just the rural heartlands, according to Plaid Cymru President Ieuan Wyn Jones.

In a keynote speech in his north Wales constituency, he also signalled that he intended to grasp the nettle of Welsh language policy in time for next year's assembly elections.

Speaking in Ynys Mon, he outlined the steps the party would take in education and economic development to protect and develop the language if it was given the chance to form the Government of Wales after the May 2003 poll.

It must be seen as a force that unites the people of Wales, and not used to create divisions.

Ieuan Wyn Jones

For more than a year the party has been berated by the lobby group Cymuned.

Its members have claimed Plaid has not done enough to protect the language from what it saw as the threat of English-speaking incomers in Welsh-speaking areas.

Mr Jones has ruled out any policies putting restrictions on the movement of people but supports planning policies taking the well-being of the language into consideration in "areas of special linguistic significance".

The Plaid president spoke to an audience of around 20 party members in his Anglesey constituency on Monday night.

It was the first of a series of speeches in which he plans outline policy areas for Plaid Cymru in the run-up to the assembly elections.

Ieuan Wyn Jones admitted the language is under threat

He said there have been positive developments over the past 30 years, but he accepted that Welsh as an everyday language is under threat.

He insisted his party did not underestimate the challenge ahead and announced a series of initiatives which he said would go some way to safeguarding the language, if they were adopted.

His proposals included establishing a unit within the Welsh Development Agency linking economic development with the promotion of the language.

He also said that under a Plaid Cymru government in the assembly, the Welsh Language Board would receive more money and that there would be a strategy to develop Welsh-medium education.

Mr Jones has seen his party lose members to Cymuned

He also launched a scathing attack on some Labour MP's and AM's who he said are the "enemies of the Welsh language".

"The Welsh language belongs to us all, whether we speak it or not.

"It must be seen as a force that unites the people of Wales, and not used to create divisions.

"We want more people to have the opportunity to learn the language and use it in their communities.

"Critical mass"

"The survival of Welsh-speaking areas is fundamental to underpin the growth of the language throughout Wales, and such a growth on a national basis is essential for the future of our Welsh-language communities.

"The first step towards the revival of a language is to secure a growth in the number of people that can speak it, mainly through the education system.

"Although this is not enough in itself, it is vital in order to create the critical mass that will provide strength and credibility to the language."

He suggested the Labour Party had reneged on a pledge not to use the language issue as a political football while a small number of labour AMs were a "narrow-minded and bigoted minority" prepared to level the charge of racism when the language issue was raised.