Cornish self-government movement

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The Cornish Flag
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.[1] 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.[2] 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,[3] 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 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.[4]

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".[5][6]

Contents

[edit] Political parties and pressure groups

  • Cornish Solidarity are a non-partisan political pressure group that calls for the recognition of the ethnic Cornish as a national minority.
  • 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 of 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.[11]
  • 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].
  • An Gof was a militant organisation, which was active in the early 1980s. A message was sent in 2007 claiming that it had reformed and was responsible for graffiti in various places around Cornwall and attacks on St. George's flags. Later in 2007, it claimed to have merged with another group to form the Cornish National Liberation Army. A message was sent claiming to be from this organisation, threatening celebrity chefs Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver, blaming them for the increase in house prices caused by the trend towards English people owning second homes in Cornwall. It is far from clear whether this is a real organisation.

[edit] History of the Cornish self-government movement

The history of modern Cornish nationalism goes back to the end of the 19th century. The failure of Irish home rule caused Gladstone's Liberal party to revise and make more relevant its devolution policy by advocating the idea of 'home rule all round' applying to Scotland and Wales but opening the door for Cornish Liberals to use cultural themes for political purposes.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.

[edit] 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.[15] 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.[16] King Arthur is often seen as part of Cornish mythology.

[edit] Role of Celtic identity and criticism

The notion that the Cornish are a separate ethnicity is sometimes[17][18] tied up with the notion that the Cornish are of Celtic blood, unlike most people in the rest of England. Geneticist Bryan Sykes has criticised this notion. He claims that the Celtic identity only arose in the early 18th century, and believes that this was invented as linguistic terminology rather than an ethnic group. Edward Lhuyd noticed the similarities between Breton, Cornish, Irish, Scots Gaelic and Welsh, so he grouped them together as "Celtic". However, Sykes questions whether there ever was a Celtic people at all.[19] Groups such as the Celtic Congress and Celtic League and historian Peter Berresford Ellis agree that the Celtic identity is mainly a linguistic one, and assign it only to those countries where an indigenous Celtic language is still spoken, or was in the early modern period.[20]

[edit] Cornwall and the Duchy of Cornwall

[edit] County or Country?

Some supporters of self-government argue that the de jure 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"[21][22].

[edit] History

Main articles: History of Cornwall and Timeline of Cornish history

Historically Cornwall was recognised as separate:

In 936 Athelstan fixed Cornwall's eastern boundary at the Tamar.[23]

The Italian scholar Polydore Vergil 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.'[24]

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.'[24]

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 characteristics' of the three peoples, saying for example 'the Cornishman is poor, rough and boorish'[24]

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.'[24]

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'.[24]

It seems however that the recognition by outsiders of the Cornish as a separate people declined with the language, which by the 19th century had essentially ceased to be used.

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cornish Stannary Parliament
  2. ^ The Duchy of Cornwall - history supported by references to primary source material
  3. ^ Cornish Assembly
  4. ^ Mebyon Kernow support the Cornish Assembly
  5. ^ BBC News - July 2004 - Simpsons Lisa puts cool into Cornish cause
  6. ^ Simpsons Channel July 2004 - Lisa Simpsons's alternative to the Queen's traditional Christmas message
  7. ^ Celtic League
  8. ^ Cornwall Council timeline
  9. ^ CNP - An Baner Kernewek
  10. ^ Scat t’Larrups?
  11. ^ Tyr Gwyr Gweryn
  12. ^ Tregidga, Garry (Spring 1999). "Devolution for the Duchy - The Liberal Party and the Nationalist Movement in Cornwall". Journal of Liberal Democrat History (22): 21 - 23. Liberal Democrat History Group. 
  13. ^ Payton, Philip (2004). "Re-inventing Kernow", Cornwall - A History, 2nd revised edition, Fowey: Cornwall Editions Ltd. ISBN 1904880053. 
  14. ^ BBC News - December 2001 - 50,000 petition calls for a Cornish Assembly
  15. ^ Cornish ethnicity data from the 2001 Census
  16. ^ CCGA
  17. ^ Philip Payton (1996) - Cornwall - Fowey: Alexander Associates
  18. ^ The Duchy of Cornwall - history supported by references to primary source material
  19. ^ Bryan Sykes, "The Blood of the Isles", Bantam Press, London, 2006. p.46-47
  20. ^ Revival in Cornish language - Times online - May 2008
  21. ^ Tamar Bridge Act 1998, s.41
  22. ^ Letter from the House of Commons Library to Andrew George M.P. dated 16th July 1997
  23. ^ Philip Payton. (1996). Cornwall. Fowey: Alexander Associates
  24. ^ a b c d e Stoyle, Mark (1st January 2001). A separate people. The Cornish: A Neglected Nation?. BBC History. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.

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