Press Release

Devolution debate at Penryn campus

The leader of Mebyon Kernow, Cllr Dick Cole, was among the participants at a seminar about the so-called “devolution deal” recently agreed between central government and Cornwall’s unitary authority. The event took place at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus on Monday 6th February. There were presentations from Conservative councillor Louis Gardner, campaigner for a Cornish Assembly Stephen Horscroft, Roger Lawrence (former leader of City of Wolverhampton Council and former member of the West Midlands Combined Authority), Professor Andy Pike (Centre…

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MK briefing on “devolution deal”

MK’s National Executive and elected councillors have produced the following briefing on the so-called “devolution deal” for Cornwall. We are desperately disappointed at the content of the “devolution deal” published on 2nd December 2022. It does not include the transfer of far-reaching powers from Westminster to Cornwall as has happened in Wales and Scotland since 1999. The deal is simply a range of accommodations between central government and Cornwall’s unitary authority. The consultation from the administration in Truro claims that “it’s…

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On this day in 2001: 50,000 for home rule

Twenty-one years ago today, a delegation from Cornwall visited 10 Downing Street to deliver the list of names (on a CD) of the 50,000 people who had signed declarations in support of a Cornish Assembly. The delegation included MK leader Cllr Dick Cole and leading figures from the Cornish Constitutional Convention. Looking back to the declaration campaign, Cllr Dick Cole said: “It was an immense statement that 50,000 people signed individual declarations seeking greater powers for Cornwall, and it remains a…

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Consultation on “devolution deal”

Cornwall Council has just commenced a ten-week consultation on its so-called “devolution deal,” which Mebyon Kernow has rightly described as “not devolution at all.” Speaking on behalf of MK, Party Leader Cllr Dick Cole has criticized the consultation as “biased,” but he has also called on supporters of greater powers for Cornwall to use the consultation to demand proper devolution. He said: “The so-called ‘devolution deal’ is not devolution at all. It is simply a range of accommodations between central government…

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Disappointment at Labour’s “devolution” plans

Just days after the Conservatives published their weak and inadequate “devolution deal,” the Labour Party has published “A New Britain: Renewing Our Democracy and Rebuilding Our Economy.” It is the report from their “Commission on the UK’s Future.” Speaking on behalf of Mebyon Kernow, Party Leader Cllr Dick Cole said: “This new Labour document, which sets out their approach to constitutional change, is a massive disappointment from a Cornish perspective. There is no proposal for a Cornish Parliament. In fact, the…

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MK statement on proposed “devolution” deal

Earlier today, a Government Minister (Dehenna Davison) and the leader of Cornwall Council (Linda Taylor) signed a “devolution deal” for Cornwall. The Conservatives will soon be launching a ten-week consultation on the document, which will start on Friday 9th December.   Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole called on people to take participate in the consultation and challenged the UK Government to support “meaningful devolution” for Cornwall. In a statement issued today, Cllr Dick Cole said: “The promise of additional funding for…

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