The five Group Leaders on Cornwall Council – which includes Cllr Dick Cole, who is the leader of the Mebyon Kernow / Green Party group on the authority – have sent a letter to the Prime Minister calling for Cornwall to have a seat on the proposed Council of Nations and Regions.

The letter states:

“The rationale for this request is based on the fact that, like the Welsh, Scottish and Irish, the Cornish people and the language are recognised and protected by virtue of two Council of Europe treaties.

“The first of those is the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorites and the second being the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This legal recognition defines Cornwall as a nation by virtue of having a distinct language, history, ethnicity, culture, society and territory.

“As such, both treaties compel the UK Government, as founding members of the Council of Europe since 1949, to take measures to promote our economic, social, political and cultural life, in order to give full and effective equality between the Cornish as a national minority and those belonging to the majority. Inviting representation from Cornwall on the Council of Nations and Regions would fulfil this obligation.

“Indeed, when the Cornish were recognised as a national minority, the UK Government stated that ‘the decision to recognise the unique identity of the Cornish, now affords them the same status as the UK’s other Celtic people; the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.’

“Inviting representation from Cornwall on the Council of Nations and Regions would signal the Government’s intentions to honour this obligation and the two Council of Europe treaties in respect of the Cornish.”