The leader of Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall has written to Cornwall’s six new MPs seeking their support and engagement with a re-energised push for meaningful devolution for Cornwall.

An extract from the letter from Cllr Dick Cole, on behalf of the MK National Executive, is as follows:  

“I asked me to write to you all about the need for meaningful devolution for Cornwall. Firstly, I have been tasked to thank you for taking your parliamentary oaths in Cornish. It was extremely symbolic that all six MPs from the west of the Tamar asserted Cornish nationhood by ‘swearing in’ in our national language. It was a powerful statement and emphasised Cornwall is just as much a key constituent part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; and its democratic, economic and cultural needs also need to be prioritised by the UK Government.

“As one of the Group Leaders on the unitary authority, I was pleased to be a co-signatory on a letter to the Prime Minister. As you will be aware, it seeks representation for Cornwall on the new Council of Nations and Regions. This request was also grounded in Cornish nationhood and the promise from a previous UK Government that the decision to recognise the Cornish as a national minority now affords us ‘the same status as the UK’s other Celtic people; the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.’ We feel that it is appropriate that continue to push for this pledge to be actioned, with the UK Government and other public bodies fully meeting their obligations to the Cornish national minority, which must include greater democratic powers. And it remains our hope that representation on the ‘Council of Nations and Regions’ will be a step towards achieving greater parity with Wales and Scotland through meaningful devolution.

“Members of Mebyon Kernow from across the whole of Cornwall – in all six constituencies – are keen to work with you to build a powerful cross-party campaign for proper Cornish devolution, just as in 2000-2001, when we collected over 50,000 declarations seeking a Cornish Assembly. It is also only 15 months since I tabled a cross-party motion to Cornwall Council, which argued that Cornwall merited parity with Scotland and Wales in terms of devolution and called for a meaningful settlement similar to those enjoyed in the other Celtic parts of the UK (such as a National Assembly of Cornwall or Cornish Parliament). I was grateful that it was supported by all members of the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups.

“It is our hope that you will all wish to build on that initiative and push for the new Government to bring forward a significant and bespoke devolution settlement for Cornwall, which reflects our national status but also ensures that Cornwall has the democratic tools to build a successful future for one and all.

“It has been disappointing that when constitutional matters and democratic reforms have been discussed in recent years, key decision-makers and opinion-formers in Westminster have tended to have a blindspot about Cornwall. They have chosen not to act on the national minority status of the Cornish, and we have seen no proposals for meaningful devolution to Cornwall as enjoyed in Scotland and Wales.

“We have however noted that a proposed English Devolution Bill has just been announced in the King’s Speech. The focus seems to be on tweaks to local government through a ‘new framework for English devolution,’ largely through mayoral powers and combined authorities.

“We would request that a delegation of our members meet with you to discuss how we might be able to work together to deliver proper devolution for Cornwall, which we would suggest could be through a Cornish Devolution Bill.”