Devolved English Parliament - The Cornish Question

The Cornish Question

In Cornwall there has been a campaign since 1998 for a devolved Cornish Assembly, along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly, which would operate independently of Westminster. In 2001 Cornwall demonstrated the largest expression of popular support for devolved power in the whole of the United Kingdom and possibly Europe when a 50,000 petition for a Cornish Assembly was handed to the government. The petition had the support of all five Cornish Lib Dem MPs, Cornwall Council and most independent councillors. Cornish nationalists argue that the 'Cornish question' should not be overlooked and that any new constitutional arrangements involving a devolved English parliament would have to take into account Cornwall's nationhood. In 1998 Cornwall had been recognised by the UK Government as having "distinct cultural and historical factors reflecting a Celtic background" and in a 2004 poll 44% of those asked in Cornwall said they felt Cornish, rather than English or British. On 8 May 1990, The Guardian newspaper editorial commented - “Smaller minorities also have equally proud visions of themselves as irreducibly Welsh, Irish, Manx or Cornish. These identities are distinctly national in ways which proud people from Yorkshire, much less proud people from Berkshire will never know. Any new constitutional settlement which ignores these factors will be built on uneven ground.”