Cornwall 2000 is a Cornish nationalist pressure group based in Bodmin, Cornwall, United Kingdom.[1][2] The group was formed by John Angarrack, who has authored revisionist books on the history of Cornwall and has participated in the Cornish nationalist scene.[3] The organisation is headquartered at John Angarrack's. Cornwall 2000 are currently fighting the UK government over the specific exclusion of the Cornish from the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
In August 2008 it was announced by Cornwall 2000 that they propose to lodge a case for the proposed inclusion of the Cornish into the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities with the European Court of Human Rights. For a case to reach this stage however, it must be shown that Cornish campaigners and Cornwall 2000 have exhausted all domestic legal avenues by having the case summarily dismissed by the High Court, the Appeal Court and the House of Lords. Cornwall 2000 claim that the Cornish have a legal right to exist as a UK national minority, but before such a legal challenge can begin, they need to raise at least £100,000 to cover potential adverse costs.[4] The 'Cornish Fighting Fund' was officially launched with the release of John Angarrack's latest book Scat t’Larrups? in May 2008, when the author made the opening pledge.[5]
However the fund failed to meet the required target of £100 000 by the end of December 2008, having received just over £33,000 in pledges, and the plan is now abandoned.[6] The instigator of the campaign, John Angarrack, on launching the fund stated; "If by that date (Dec 08), the strategy outlined here has not gathered the required level of support, we shall assume that the Cornish community does not cherish its identity nor care that it survives."
The Government specifically excluded the Cornish from the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on the grounds they are not a Race Relations Act case law recognised group,[7] but included other groups in the Convention who were also not Race Relations Act case law recognised groups. For example, the Government included Irish Travellers in 1999, and Ulster-Scots in 2007. Cornwall 2000 claim that the UK government cannot provide a definitive list of its minorities and that the Cornish are the only Census 2001 group, and UK ethnically monitored group, to be specifically targeted in this way.
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