Cornish self-government movement

Cornish nationalists advocate either greater autonomy within England, or a split to become the United Kingdom's fifth home nation.

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]

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 contested its first European Parliamentary elections in 2009, where they entered candidates for the UK southwest region which comprises Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Bristol, as well as Cornwall, although they failed to win any seats.^[5] In Cornwall however they gained more votes than Labour.

• Cornish Constitutional Convention is a cross-party advisory group that has been instrumental in moulding opinion in both Cornwall and London towards a new accommodation for Cornwall within the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 2000 with the objective of establishing a devolved Assembly for Cornwall (Senedh Kernow).[2]. It states that "The aim of the Convention is to establish a form of modern governance which strengthens Cornwall, her role in the affairs of the country, and positively addresses the problems that have arisen from more than a century of growing isolation and loss of confidence." Its principal lobbying document is DEVOLUTION for ONE and ALL: Governance for Cornwall in the 21st Century [3]

• 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.^[6]

• 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 14 May 1977, stated that a Stannator's right to veto Westminster legislation had never been formally withdrawn.^[7] In March 2007, Bridget Prentice, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice stated in a written answer in the House of Commons "...there are no valid Cornish stannary organisations in existence.", "There are no treaties today that apply to Cornwall only..." and that " There is no special status for legislation which applies to Cornwall or to Cornish localities."^[8] This was confirmed in 2009 in a reply to a question by the MP Andrew George.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 29 March 2007, Official Report, column 1673, on politics and government: South West region, whether any parts of Stannary Law still exist as part of the law of England and Wales. [276568]

Mr. Wills: The body of Stannary customary law has not been systematically repealed. It is likely however that such customary law has been superseded by modern legislation. There were also provisions in 19th century primary legislation relating to the stannaries, but these have largely been repealed. ^[9]

• The Cornish Nationalist Party was formed in 1975 by Dr James Whetter and is currently not registered to contest elections.^[10]

• 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 three books to date, Breaking the Chains , Our Future is History and Scat t’Larrups? released on May 15 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.^[11] The "Cornish Fighting Fund" was launched by Cornwall 2000 in August 2008.^[12] 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. ^[13] 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."

• 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.^[14]

• 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 [4].

• 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.

• 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.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17]

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. However the same MORI poll indicated an equal number of Cornish respondents were in favour of a South West Regional Assembley, (70% in favour of a Cornish assembly, 72% in favour of a S.West Regional assembly) .^[18]

On 14 July 2009, Dan Rogerson MP, of the Liberal Democrats, presented a Cornish 'breakaway' bill to the Parliament in Westminster - 'The Government of Cornwall Bill'. The bill proposes a devolved Assembly for Cornwall, similar to the Welsh and Scottish set up. The bill states that Cornwall should re-assert its rightful place within the United Kingdom. "Cornwall is a unique part of the country, and this should be reflected in the way that it is governed. The Bill would provide Cornwall for greater responsibility in areas such as agriculture, heritage, education, housing and economic sustainability. There is a political and social will for Cornwall to be recognised as its own nation. Constitutionally, Cornwall has the right to a level of self-Government, as demonstrated by the Cornish Foreshore Case in 1858 which confirmed that Cornwall is legally a Duchy which is extraterritorial to England. If the Government is going to recognise the right of Scotland and Wales to greater self-determination because of their unique cultural and political positions, then they should recognise the same right of Cornwall."^[19][20][21]

Distinct culture and 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.^[22] 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.^[23] 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^[2][24] tied up with the notion that the Cornish are of Celtic blood, unlike most people in the rest of England. British 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.^[25] 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.^[26]

Cornwall and the Duchy of Cornwall

The Official Position on the Duchy of Cornwall

The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate which funds the public, charitable and private activities of The Prince of Wales and his family. The Duchy itself consists of around 54,424 hectares of land in 23 counties, mostly in the South West of England. The current Duke of Cornwall, H.R.H Charles The Prince of Wales.

The Duchy estate was created in 1337 by Edward III for his son and heir, Prince Edward, and its primary function was to provide him and future Princes of Wales with an income from its assets. A charter ruled that each future Duke of Cornwall would be the eldest surviving son of the monarch and thus also the male heir to the throne.^[27]

• The Duke of Cornwall, as eldest son of the reiging monarch is also the Prince of Wales, however these titles are separate.

• In the United Kingdom there exist two duchies, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall. These are two separate estates.

The rights of the Duchy of Cornwall

The rights of the Dukes of Cornwall have been accused of being contrary to the spirit of Magna Carta. These include the right to intestate estates, bona vacantia, treasure trove, gold and silver deposits, waste land, foreshore, rivers and estuaries, mines, mineral rights, rights of common, castles, advowsons, and so on- whether in possession or reputed or claimed to be parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall- the Duchy being the body that collects the rents and dues on behalf of the Prince. (Duchy Charters: Section 5.11, [29]). Furthermore, the entirety of the Isles of Scilly is claimed despite the Duchy's admitting that they were not included in, rather "omitted" from, the three Duchy Charters.

The uniqueness of Cornwall as a semi-autonomous region may be deduced from Plowden's Commentaries of 1761 on the Case of Mines of 1568 in which he quotes the Judges, p. 334, as affirming:

If the King grants a man return of all manner of writs, yet he shall not

have return of summons of the Exchequer, for this touches the King himself

and is not between party and party

Despite these assertions, the summons of Exchequer was exceptionally granted to the Dukes of Cornwall in order to govern Cornwall.   Since 1752, when the incumbent Duke of Cornwall was seriously challenged by the Cornish Stannary Parliament, it has no longer been convened by royal or ducal writ. Research suggests a system by which Cornwall was administered by the Dukes of Cornwall separately to England.

County or Country?

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"^[28][29].

History

Historically Cornwall was recognised as separate:

In 936 Athelstan fixed Cornwall's eastern boundary at the Tamar.^[30]

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.'^[31]

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.'^[31]

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'^[31]

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.'^[31]

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'.^[31]

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.

Over-taxation of the Stannaries

On 15 May 2000 the Cornish Stannary Parliament despatched an invoice to the chief officer of the Duchy of Cornwall, The Lord Warden of The Stannaries. This invoice demanded a refund of a calculated £20 billion overcharge in taxation on tin production from 1337-1837. This was calculated according to production figures and historic wealth calculation methods by Harvard University 1908, and The Sunday Times Rich List, March 2000, respectively. Cornwall was charged at over twice the rate levied on the adjacent county of Devon. On 17 May 2000 The Guardian reported that the Cornish Stannary Parliament, who sent the bill, said that the Duchy had claimed an excess tax on tin production in Cornwall for 500 years, and requested payment within 120 days. The Cornish Stannary Parliament argued that their action demonstrated how Cornwall was treated separately from England and thus should have special status today. On recepit of the moneys they claimed owed they declared it would be spent it on an agency to boost Cornwall's economy. ^[32] The Guardian went on to point out that the Duke of Cornwall himself, H.R.H Charles the Prince of Wales is in effect trustee and cannot sell off the Ducht's assets thus he would have difficulty in paying the bill. H.R.H. Charles the Prince of Wales does not receive any money from the state. His financial stability coming from the £5m-£6m annual net surplus generated by the Duchy.^[32]

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.

In popular Culture

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".^[33][34][35]

See also

Cornwall portal

• Constitutional status of Cornwall
• Corineus
• Cornish Assembly
• Cornish Foreshore Case
• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
• List of topics related to Cornwall
• Pan-Celticism

References

External links

• Mebyon Kernow
• The Cornish Stannary Parliament
• The Celtic League
• The Celtic Congress
• The Federal Union of European Nationalities

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