Cornwall’s National Minority Status Marked 10 Years By Mebyon Kernow

Members of Mebyon Kernow have gathered to mark Cornwall’s national minority status 10 years on – and are calling on the government to keep its promises. Last month marked a decade since the UK government pledged that Cornish would be recognized under the auspices of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The government’s official press release stated that “the decision to recognize the unique identity of the Cornish now gives them the same status… as the other Celtic people of Great Britain, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish”. However, at an event in Truro on April 20, members of Mebyon Kernow came together to express their disappointment that Westminster had “failed to live up to its obligations” to Cornish.

Party members also issued a challenge to the central government to keep its promises of 10 years ago. The keynote address at the meeting was party leader Cllr Dick Cole, who described the 2014 recognition as a “landmark moment for our nation”.

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He said: “I would like to pay tribute to the large number of people in Cornwall who have worked hard to try and turn the ‘recognition’ into tangible benefits for Cornwall and Cornwall; and those who have consistently argued the case for Cornish identity, culture and language.

“But the anticipated changes in public policy have not materialized over the past ten years because the UK Government and numerous public bodies have failed to meet their responsibilities. In particular, a decade of inaction and obfuscation by the Westminster establishment is a clear failure to treat the Cornish in the same way as “the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish”.

“But we must not let such inaction deter us. We should be very proud of our collective efforts and must never stop striving to achieve parity for Cornwall and the Cornwall national minority.”

Mebyon Kernow used the meeting to issue a statement challenging central government, public bodies, MPs and potential MPs to commit to full compliance with the Cornish National Minority Framework Convention.

It says national minority status for the Cornish must mean parity with “the Scots, Welsh and Irish”, and that government obligations include support for language and culture, education and the media, greater visibility of national minorities in public life, protection of historic territories, more opportunities on the international stage and much more.

claims that the government’s declaration 10 years ago “has proven to be delusional, and ten years on we are demanding and insisting that central government fulfills its obligations under the Framework Convention in full by treating Cornwall equally with the other national parts of the United Kingdom . “.

Mebyon Kernow further called for significant devolution through the creation of a Cornwall Legislative Parliament or Cornwall National Assembly and institutions for Cornwall to match those of other Celtic nations.

He wants Cornwall to be submerged into “south west region” entities and what he calls “fair funding” for Cornwall and its public services. It also called for long-term funding for Cornish language and culture and a national curriculum for Cornwall.

The statement went on to call for “greater institutional support for Cornwall through a Language Act and Part 3 of the Regional and Minority Languages ​​Charter” and “provision for public service broadcasting for Cornwall as it exists in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales” .

The inclusion of the Cornish language in the BBC Charter and the inclusion of Cornish nationality in forms of ethnic monitoring from government and public bodies is another topic of discussion, he added.

The statement concluded: “It is shameful that national minority status for Cornish has been largely ignored by the Westminster establishment for a decade. Now it must be respected and the promised parity with the “Scots, Welsh and Irish” must be fulfilled. .”