- Cornish self-government movement
The Cornish self-government movement (sometimes referred to as Cornish nationalism) is a
social movement which seeks greater for the area ofCornwall . [ [http://www.cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk/ Cornish Stannary Parliament] ] The movement's advocates argue that Cornwall is not merely acounty ofEngland (which is its current administrative status) but aduchy and a distinctivenation which has never been formally incorporated into England via anAct of Union . [ [http://www.duchyofcornwall.eu/ The Duchy of Cornwall - history supported by references to primary source material] ] 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 fullindependence from theUnited Kingdom , [ [http://www.cornishassembly.org/ Cornish Assembly] ] but rather seek official recognition for Cornwall as one of theconstituent countries orhome nations of the UK.Some supporters of Cornish
self-government question the legitimacy of English rule in Cornwall, due to the failure of the formerParliament 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 theCornish Assembly Campaign. [ [http://www.mebyonkernow.org/ Mebyon Kernow support the Cornish Assembly] ]The Cornish independence movement received unexpected publicity in 2004, when
Channel 4 's alternative Christmas message, (featuringThe Simpsons ) showedLisa Simpson chanting "Rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn !" (Freedom for Cornwall now !) and holding a placard saying "UK OUT OF CORNWALL". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/3866927.stm BBC News - July 2004 - Simpsons Lisa puts cool into Cornish cause] ] [ [http://www.simpsonschannel.com/news/monthly-archive-7-2004.html Simpsons Channel July 2004 - Lisa Simpsons's alternative to the Queen's traditional Christmas message] ]Political parties and pressure groups
*
Mebyon Kernow is the key political party advocating greater Cornishhome rule . Since 2004 Mebyon Kernow has been a member of the Europe-wide political group, theEuropean Free Alliance (alongside theScottish National Party and Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales), which has five Members of theEuropean Parliament (two from the SNP, one from Plaid Cymru, one from theRepublican Left of Catalonia and one Latvian MEP), and is part of theGreens/EFA group. Mebyon Kernow has not contested European Parliament elections itself. [http://www.europarl.org.uk/guide/results2004tx/txsouthwest.htm]*The Celtic League and
Celtic Congress have a Cornish branch and recognise Cornwall as a Celtic Nation alongsideIreland ,Scotland , theIsle of Man ,Wales andBrittany . The league is a political pressure group that campaigns for Independence and Celtic cooperation. [ [http://www.celticleague.net/ Celtic League] ]*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 theFederal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN ). In 1977 thePlaid Cymru MPDafydd Wigley in Parliament asked the Attorney General forEngland and Wales if he would provide the date upon which enactments of theCharter of Pardon were rescinded. The reply, received on14 May 1977 , stated that a Stannator's right to veto Westminster legislation had never been formally withdrawn. [ [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5919 Cornwall Council timeline] ]*The
Cornish Nationalist Party was formed in 1975 byDr James Whetter and is currently not registered to contest elections. [ [http://www.theroselandinstitute.co.uk/html/cornish_banner_publications.html CNP - An Baner Kernewek] ]*
Cornish Solidarity are a non-partisan political pressure group that calls for the recognition of the ethnic Cornish as a national minority.*
John Angarrack ofCornwall 2000 , theHuman Rights organisation, has written three books to date, "Breaking the Chains" , "Our Future is History " and "Scat t’Larrups? " released on May 15th 2008. They detail many of the core issues of the Cornish national movement as well as a re-examination of Cornish history and the Cornish constitution. [ [http://johnangarrack.co.uk/ Scat t’Larrups?] ] The "Cornish Fighting Fund" was launched by Cornwall 2000 in August 2008. [ [http://www.cornishfightingfund.org/index.php Cornish Fighting Fund] ]*"
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 inKescusulyans 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. [ [http://www.kernowtgg.co.uk/ Tyr Gwyr Gweryn] ]*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 [http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/1301] .*
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 theCornish 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.* CornishnotEnglish.com is a website run by a member of the
Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament with links to websites of the Cornish self-government movement.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. [cite journal|last=Tregidga|first=Garry|authorlink=Garry Tregidga|date=Spring 1999|title=Devolution for the Duchy - The Liberal Party and the Nationalist Movement in Cornwall|journal=Journal of Liberal Democrat History |publisher=
Liberal Democrat History Group |issue=22|pages=21 - 23|url=http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/uploads/22_tregidga_devolution_for_the_duchy.pdf]Henry Jenner was an important figure in early 20th-century Cornish national awareness. He made the case for Cornwall's membership in theCeltic Congress , pioneered the movement to revive theCornish language , and founded theCornish Gorseth . [cite book|last=Payton|first=Philip|authorlink=Philip Payton|title=Cornwall - A History|publisher=Cornwall Editions Ltd|location=Fowey |date=2004|edition=2nd revised edition|chapter=Re-inventing Kernow|isbn=1904880053]Traditionally, much support to Cornish self-government has come from supporters of
Welsh self-government , who have often seen the Cornish as theirBrythonic Celtic kindred. For example, Mebyon Kernow has a twinning arrangement with theBlaenau Gwent branch ofPlaid Cymru .Some intellectual support for Cornish self-government has come from the
Institute of Cornish Studies , affiliated to theUniversity of Exeter .In 2000, the
Cornish Constitutional Convention launched a campaign for aCornish 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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1704112.stm BBC News - December 2001 - 50,000 petition calls for a Cornish Assembly] ]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.Distinct culture and ethnicity
Many supporters will, in addition to making legal or constitutional arguments, stress that the Cornish are a distinct
ethnic group ornation , that people in Cornwall typically refer to 'England' as beginning east of theRiver Tamar , and that there is aCornish language . If correct they argue the Cornish therefore have a right to nationalself determination . "For further information on these topics, seeCornwall ,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. [ [http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/BSPS/annualConference/2006_localgov.htm#generated-subheading3 Cornish ethnicity data from the 2001 Census] ] In 2004 school children in Cornwall could also record their
ethnicity as Cornish on the schoolscensus . Additionally, theCouncil of Europe has been applying increasing pressure on the UK government to recognise the Cornish for protection under the Council'sFramework 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 . [ [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/grahamhart/ccga-profiles.htm CCGA] ]King Arthur is often seen as part of Cornish mythology.Role of Celtic identity and criticism
The notion that the Cornish are a separate ethnicity is sometimes [Philip Payton (1996) - "Cornwall" - Fowey: Alexander Associates] [ [http://www.duchyofcornwall.eu/ The Duchy of Cornwall - history supported by references to primary source material] ] tied up with the notion that the Cornish are of Celtic blood, unlike most people in the rest of Britain. English 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. [ Bryan Sykes, "The Blood of the Isles", Bantam Press, London, 2006. p.46-47] Groups such as theCeltic Congress andCeltic League and historianPeter Berresford Ellis agree that the Celtic identity is mainly a linguistic one, and assign it only to those countries where an indigenousCeltic language is still spoken, or was in the early modern period. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3972485.ece Revival in Cornish language - Times online - May 2008] ]Cornwall and the Duchy of Cornwall
County or Country?
Some supporters of self-government argue that the
de jure constitutional status of Cornwall is aDuchy andcountry and therefore not acounty of England; theDuchy of Cornwall and currentUK 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" [Tamar Bridge Act 1998, s.41] [Letter from the House of Commons Library to Andrew George M.P. dated 16th July 1997] .History
Historically Cornwall was recognised as separate:
In 936
Athelstan fixed Cornwall's eastern boundary at the Tamar. [Philip Payton . (1996). "Cornwall". Fowey: Alexander Associates]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.'cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/cornish_nation_03.shtml|title=A separate people|last=Stoyle|first=Mark|date=1st January 2001|work=The Cornish: A Neglected Nation?|publisher=
BBC History|accessdate=2008-05-30]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 ofHenry 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'Another notable example is Gaspard de Coligny Chatillon - the French
Ambassador inLondon - 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 19th century had essentially ceased to be used.
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 theEuropean 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:-
# 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.
# To request a ruling by the Court that theDuchy 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).
# To request a ruling by the Court that the protection of the Convention rights of the Applicants requires the government of theUnited 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 andUlster Scots .
# 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 otherCornish people .
# To request a ruling by the Court that the exclusion of the Cornish from the provisions of theFramework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities constitutes a violation of the Convention rights of the Applicants.
# 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 theCouncil of Europe .See also
*
Cornish conspiracy theory
*Cornish Foreshore Case
*Corineus
*List of topics related to Cornwall
*
*Constitutional status of Cornwall
*Cornish Assembly
*Devolution#Cornwall
*Nationalism
*Pan-Celticism
*Modern Celts
*Celt
*Cultural imperialism
*List of active autonomist and secessionist movements References
External links
* [http://duchyofcornwall.eu/ Duchy of Cornwall history]
* [http://www.cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk// The Cornish Stannary Parliament]
* [http://www.mebyonkernow.org/ Mebyon Kernow]
* [http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/ Celtic League]
* [http://www.evertype.com/celtcong/ Celtic Congress]
* [http://www.fuen.org/ The Federal Union of European Nationalities]
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