Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall today held a meeting in Truro to mark the coming tenth anniversary [Wednesday 24th April] of the Cornish being recognised as a “national minority,” when central government promised  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.”

Party members and others present expressed their disappointment that the Westminster establishment had failed to meet their obligations towards the Cornish over the last decade.

At the event, Mebyon Kernow issued a statement, which challenges central government, public bodies, MPs and would-be MPs, to commit to full compliance with the Framework Convention with regard to the Cornish national minority. Individuals can sign the document to show their support.

The full document is as follows:

National minority status for the Cornish must mean parity with “the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.”

2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the UK Government recognising the Cornish as a national minority through the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

This was a landmark moment for our nation as the Framework Convention is a significant international treaty, which sets out numerous obligations. These include support for language and culture, education and the media, the greater visibility of national minorities in public life, the protection of historic territories, more opportunities on the international stage, and so much more.

The official government press release (24th April 2014) 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.”

Sadly, this promise has proved to be illusory, and ten years on, we demand and insist that central government fully meets its obligations in the Framework Convention by treating Cornwall equally with the other national parts of the United Kingdom.

We require the following:

• Meaningful devolution through the creation of a legislative Cornish Parliament or a National Assembly of Cornwall.
• Full membership of the British-Irish Council and other trans-national bodies.
• Institutions for Cornwall, which match those of the other Celtic nations.
• An end to Cornwall being submerged into “south west region” entities.
• Fair funding for Cornwall and its public services.
• Long-term funding for Cornish language and culture, and a national curriculum for Cornwall.
• Greater institutional support for Cornish through a Language Act and part 3 of the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.
• Public service broadcasting provision for Cornwall, as exists in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
• Inclusion of the Cornish language in the BBC Charter.
• Inclusion of Cornish nationality on ethnic monitoring forms from governmental and public bodies.

It is shameful that national minority status for the Cornish has been largely ignored by the Westminster establishment for a decade. It must now be respected and the promised parity with “the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish” must be delivered.

In his keynote address, MK leader Cllr Dick Cole said:

“There has been a manifest failure from the Westminster establishment to meet their obligations and keep their promise to treat the Cornish in the same manner as the ‘Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.’ This is shamefully the present reality.

“But we must not let such inaction discourage us. We should be very proud of our collective efforts and we must never stop striving to achieve parity for Cornwall and the Cornish national minority.”