Cornish nationalism

The Cornish Flag

The Cornish self-government movement (sometimes referred to as Cornish nationalism) is a social movement which seeks greater autonomy for the area of Cornwall. The movement's advocates argue that Cornwall is not merely a county of England (which is its current administrative status) but a duchy and a distinctive nation which has never been formally incorporated into England via an Act of Union. Supporters of Cornish self-government who assert that Cornwall is, or ought to be, a separate legal entity from England do not necessarily mean to advocate full independence from the United Kingdom, but rather seek official recognition for Cornwall as one of the constituent countries or home nations of the UK.

Some supporters of Cornish self-government question the legal legitimacy of English rule in Cornwall, due to the failure of the former Parliament of England to ever pass an Act of Union, although their claims are not generally recognised within the United Kingdom (or sometimes within Cornwall itself). However, many see some degree of autonomy as a stepping stone towards this, and are supportive of the Cornish Assembly Campaign.

The Cornish independence movement received unexpected publicity in 2004, when Channel 4's alternative Christmas message, (featuring The Simpsons) showed Lisa Simpson chanting Rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn (freedom for Cornwall now) and holding a placard saying "UK OUT OF CORNWALL".

Political Parties and Pressure Groups

• Mebyon Kernow is the key political party advocating greater Cornish home rule. Since 2004 Mebyon Kernow has been a member of the Europe-wide political group, the European Free Alliance (alongside the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales), which has five Members of the European Parliament (two from the SNP, one from Plaid Cymru, one from the Republican Left of Catalonia and one Latvian MEP), and is part of the Greens/EFA group. Mebyon Kernow has not contested European Parliament elections itself. [1]

• The Celtic League and Celtic Congress have a Cornish branch and recognise Cornwall as a Celtic Nation alongside Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales and Brittany. The league is a political pressure group that campaigns for Independence and Celtic cooperation.

• The Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament acts as a pressure group on Cornish constitutional and cultural issues. The websites of the CSP provides an overview of their main points and current campaigns. The CSP has one of its members in the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN). In 1977 the Plaid Cymru MP Dafydd Wigley in Parliament asked the Attorney General for England and Wales if he would provide the date upon which enactments of the Charter of Pardon were rescinded. The reply, received on 14th May 1977, stated that a Stannator's right to veto Westminster legislation had never been formally withdrawn.

• The Cornish Nationalist Party was formed in 1975 by Dr James Whetter.

• Cornish Solidarity are a non-partisan political pressure group that calls for the recognition of the ethnic Cornish as a national minority.

• John Angarrack of Cornwall 2000, the Human Rights organisation, has written two books to date, Breaking the Chains and Our Future is History. They detail many of the core issues of the Cornish national movement as well as a re-examination of Cornish history.

• Tyr Gwyr Gweryn (Cornish for land, truth, people) was originally a focus group formed out of members of 'Cowethas Flamank', a Cornish affairs group, and participants in Kescusulyans Kernow (Conference on Cornwall) having a special interest in the constitution of Cornwall. TGG has recently posted to its website, the transcript of the dispute between the Crown & Duchy of Cornwall (1855-1857) over ownership the Cornish Foreshore. This has been done in order to place the previously hidden legal argument and evidence, submitted for arbitration, into the public domain.

• The Cornish branch of the Green Party of England and Wales also campaigns on a manifesto of devolution to Cornwall and Cornish minority issues. In the 2005 general election the Green party struck a partnership deal with Mebyon Kernow [2].

History of the Cornish self-government movement

Henry Jenner was an important figure in early 20th-century Cornish national awareness. He made the case for Cornwall's membership in the Celtic Congress, pioneered the movement to revive the Cornish language, and founded the Cornish Gorseth.

Traditionally, much support to Cornish self-government has come from supporters of Welsh self-government, who have often seen the Cornish as their Brythonic Celtic kindred. For example, Mebyon Kernow has a twinning arrangement with the Blaenau Gwent branch of Plaid Cymru.

Some intellectual support for Cornish self-government has come from the Institute of Cornish Studies, affiliated to the University of Exeter.

In 2000, the Cornish Constitutional Convention launched a campaign for a Cornish Assembly. This was a cross-party movement representing many political voices and positions in Cornwall, from Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Solidarity to the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. It collected over 50,000 petition signatures.

Cornwall County Council commissioned an opinion poll by MORI on this subject. The poll was conducted in February 2003 and showed 55% of the Cornish public in favour of an assembly.

A distinct culture/ethnicity

Many supporters will, in addition to making legal or constitutional arguments, stress that the Cornish are a distinct ethnic group or nation, that people in Cornwall typically refer to 'England' as beginning east of the River Tamar, and that there is a Cornish language. If correct they argue the Cornish therefore have a right to national self determination. For further information on these topics, see Cornwall, Constitutional status of Cornwall, Cornish language, Culture of Cornwall, Cornish people etc.

Campaigners in 2001 for the first time prevailed upon the UK census to count Cornish ethnicity as a write-in option on the national census, although there was no separate Cornish tick box. In 2004 school children in Cornwall could also record their ethnicity as Cornish on the schools census. Additionally, the Council of Europe has been applying increasing pressure on the UK government to recognise the Cornish for protection under the Council's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

In the world of Cornish sport also can be found expressions of Cornish national identity. In 2004 a campaign was started to field a Cornish national team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. [3]

Cornwall and the Duchy of Cornwall

County or Country?

Some supporters of self-government argue that the de facto constitutional status of Cornwall is a Duchy and country and therefore not a county of England; the Duchy of Cornwall and current UK government deny this claim. Supporters of self-government often point to a lack of co-operation shown by the Duchy of Cornwall authorities when requests are made for an investigation of constitutional issues. In 1997 the Liberal Democrat Andrew George MP attempted to raise a Duchy-related question; he was prevented by an injunction that disallows MPs raising any questions in Parliament that are in any way related to the Duchy. At the time he was told it was a "restricted action"; to raise such a Duchy-related question might "cast reflections on the sovereign or the royal family" and that there was a "similar injunction on speeches"

History

Historically Cornwall was certainly recognised as separate: The Italian scholar Polydore Vergilfamous in his famous 'Anglica Historia', published in 1535 wrote that:

'the whole Countrie of Britain ...is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, [and] the fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue, ...in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces.'

Writing in 1616, Arthur Hopton stated:

'England is ...divided into 3 great Provinces, or Countries ...every of them speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish.'

During the Tudor period many travellers were clear that the Cornish were commonly regarded as a separate ethnic group. For example Lodovico Falier, an Italian diplomat at the Court of Henry VIII said 'The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other.' He went on to give the alleged 'national charecteristics' of the three peoples, saying for example 'the Cornishman is poor, rough and boorish'

Another notable example is Gaspard de Coligny Chatillon - the French Ambassador in London who wrote saying that England was not a united whole as it 'contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of the rest of England, and speaking a different language.'

It seems these views remained the same through the 16th century, after the death of Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I, in 1603, the Venetian ambassador wrote that the late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples': 'English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish ...and Irish'

It seems however that the recognition by outsiders of the Cornish as a separate people declined with the language, which by the 1800s had essentially ceased to be used.

The Cornish Stannary Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights

In April 2006 the Cornish Stannary Parliament lodged a case with the European Court of Human Rights regarding the case for Cornwall, in respect of alleged violations of the European Convention of Human Rights, Articles 6, (independent and impartial courts); 8, (respect family life); 10, (freedom of expression); 13, (violations by officials); 14 with Protocol 12, (discrimination on the grounds of association with a national minority, property, birth or other status); 17, (the official destruction of rights); Protocol 1 Article 1, (property rights) with 385 supporting documents. The Court stated that it: "will deal with the case as soon as practicable".

Objectives of the Cornish Stannary Parliament's application to the European Court of Human Rights 2006 are:-

1. To request a ruling by the Court that the Convention rights of the Applicants are violated on the grounds of bias and discrimination in the legislative, judicial and executive decision making process adopted by the government of the United Kingdom in relation to Cornwall on account of the priorities being provided in terms of 'rights, property and profits' (Crown Proceedings Act 1947, Doc.37) in Cornwall for the Duke of Cornwall as Heir to the Throne causing harassment, intimidation and deprivation to the Applicants as members of the indigenous Celtic people of Cornwall.

2. To request a ruling by the Court that the Duchy of Cornwall Estate, as the provider of an income for the Heir to the Throne, be designated a public body as is the case with the Crown Estate which has no holdings in Cornwall. (Doc.40+95).

3. To request a ruling by the Court that the protection of the Convention rights of the Applicants requires the government of the United Kingdom to apply the principle of equality before the law (Doc.36) in the distribution of state funding so that the culture, heritage, traditions and language of the indigenous Cornish national minority of Britain is funded proportionate to that currently made available for the culture, heritage, traditions and language of the English national majority of Britain as well as the Welsh, Gaels and Ulster Scots.

4. To request a ruling by the Court that the protection of the Convention rights of the Applicants requires enforceable adherence to the principle of equality before the law in legislation relevant to land ownership, whether designated Crown land or otherwise, and the implementation of the measures necessary to realise the discontinuance of exemptions from planning legislation and regulations (Doc.93) in order to eliminate the suspicion of the official use of planning laws to maximise the profits of one state aided organisation, impose deprivation on, and suppress the Celtic identity and cultural heritage of, the Applicants and other Cornish people.

5. To request a ruling by the Court that the exclusion of the Cornish from the provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities constitutes a violation of the Convention rights of the Applicants.

6.To request a ruling by the Court that the protection of the Convention rights of individuals in ‘association with a national minority’ requires the inclusion of a guarantee of the international principle of equality before the law within the legal systems of applicant states and member states as a defining qualification for membership of the Council of Europe.

See also

• List of topics related to Cornwall
• Category:Politics of Cornwall
• Constitutional status of Cornwall
• Cornish Assembly
• Nationalism
• Pan-Celticism
• Modern Celts
• Celt
• Cultural imperialism
• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements

External links

• The Cornish Stannary Parliament
• Mebyon Kernow
• The Cornish Assembly - Senedh Kernow
• The Simpsons & Cornwall episode
• Tyr Gwyr Gweryn A radical look at factors affecting pereptions of the Cornish people and their territory.
• The Cornwall Tapes
• Celtic League
• Celtic Congress
• The Federal Union of European Nationalities