Cornish Assembly
Encyclopedia
The Cornish Assembly is a proposed devolved
regional assembly
for Cornwall
in the United Kingdom
along the lines of the Scottish Parliament
, National Assembly for Wales
and Northern Ireland Assembly
.
in an economic, political and statistical sense (more recently this process had become known as "Devonwall
-isation"). However, in the face mounting evidence that Cornwall's economic plight was deepening, Cornwall achieved NUTS2 status, allowing Cornwall's issues to become visible.
In 1998 Cornwall was recognised by the UK Government as having "distinct cultural and historical factors reflecting a Celtic background", thus enhancing the case for treating Cornwall as a special case in a regional, economic and cultural sense, and separate from Devon. Also after the 1997 general election the Liberal Democrats
finally withdrew their support for the 'devonwall' process as they agreed with other pressure groups and the nationalist party Mebyon Kernow
that it undermined Cornwall's claims to European Objective One funding.
Proposals for some form of devolved Assembly for Cornwall are in fact, long standing. As long ago as 1970, J.C. Banks wrote "Federal Britain?", which included a discussion on the Cornish position.
During the 1990s the pace of debate gathered parallel to discussions relating to National Minority status for the Cornish under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
, and recognition for the Cornish language
within the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
(the latter campaign being subsequently successful).
In July 2000 Mebyon Kernow
issued the "Declaration for a Cornish Assembly", which said:
Three months later the Cornish Constitutional Convention (which had been meeting for some time as an informal discussion group) held its first open meeting to promote the objective of establishing a devolved Assembly. In less than two years, it had attracted the signatures of over 50,000 people on a petition calling for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly, which is a little over 10% of the total Cornish electorate. A delegation led by the West Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George and representatives of the Convention ' onMouseout='HidePop("10745")' href="/topics/Andrew_Climo">Andrew Climo
) presented the declaration to 10 Downing Street
on Wednesday 12 December 2001.
Currently the South West Regional Development Agency has control over areas such as economic development, housing and strategic planning, although it is now being woundup. The Liberal Democrats who have substantial support in the area, have referred to the Agency as "undemocratic and unaccountable".
In 2004 people in North East England
overwhelmingly voted no (78%) on a referendum to form a directly elected North East Assembly of the type that is proposed by Cornish nationalists. Had this assembly been formed government plans were to hold further votes in other regions including the south west. Following the no vote on the assembly then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
stated that his plans for regional devolution had been roundly defeated and the conservative spokesman for the regions Bernard Jenkin said ""The whole idea of regional government has been blown out of the water by this vote" and indeed no further moves of the type have been made by the government since.
's Feb 2003 MORI
poll showed 55% in favour of an elected, fully devolved regional assembly for Cornwall and 13% against. (Previous result :46% in favour in 2002). However the same MORI poll indicated an equal number of Cornish respondents were in favour of a South West Regional Assembly, (70% in favour of a Cornish assembly, 72% in favour of a S.West Regional assembly) .
The campaign had the support of all five Cornish Lib Dem MPs, Mebyon Kernow
, and Cornwall Council.
Lord Whitty, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions
, in the House of Lords
, recognised that Cornwall had a "special case" for devolution
. and on a visit to Cornwall Deputy Prime Minister
John Prescott
said "Cornwall has the strongest regional identity in the UK."
In October 2007 Lib Dem MP Andrew George stated in a press release, "Just because the Government has approached the whole Regional Devolution agenda in entirely the wrong way, does not mean to say that the project itself should be ditched. If Scotland is benefiting from devolution then Cornwall should learn from this and increase the intensity of its own campaign for devolution to a Cornish Assembly."
MP announced Government plans to abolish regional assemblies
. The South West Regional Assembly
was replaced by the South West Regional Development Agency in 2010.
On 19 July 2007 MP Dan Rogerson
welcomed the government announcement that unelected Regional Assemblies are to be scrapped and he asked the government to look again at the case for a locally accountable Cornish Assembly and Cornish Development agency, "in light of the important convergence funding from the EU”. Cornish
MP Andrew George said in July 2007 I’m optimistic that the Minister’s announcement will give us the future prospects to build a strong consensus, demonstrate Cornwall’s distinctiveness from the Government zone for the South West and then draw up plans so that we can decide matters for ourselves locally rather than being told by unelected quango
s in Bristol and elsewhere.”
Government minister John Healey conceded that “Cornwall still faces some significant economic challenges” and said he would consider the need for a Cornish Development Agency alongside his decision on local government restructuring.
In December 2007 Cornwall Council Leader David Whalley stated “There is something inevitable about the journey to a Cornish Assembly. We are also moving forward in creating a Cornish Development Agency - we are confident that strategic planning powers will come back to us after the SW regional assembly goes.”.
In 2008 Parliament agreed plans to create a Unitary authority
for the region, abolishing the six district councils. The unitary authority "One Cornwall" Council however does not have the same powers as the proposed Cornish Assembly. Cornish Objective One money continues to be managed from outside of Cornwall. There have in fact been suggestions that powers could be taken from the new Cornish unitary authority as it may struggle to cope with the extra workload inherited from the district councils. A premise for a single governing body for Cornwall was that the new Cornwall Council would have greater powers, being granted more responsibilities from Westminster.
The new Coalition Government introduced new legislation to windup the South West Regional Development Agency by March 2012 although with European funding programmes continuing into 2013.
In November 2010 British prime-minister, David Cameron
, said that his government would "devolve a lot of power to Cornwall - that will go to the Cornish unitary authority." Exactly what these powers will be is subject to speculation.
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
regional assembly
Regional Assemblies in England
The Regional Assemblies of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies established originally under the name Regional Chambers by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. They were abolished on 31 March 2010 and replaced by Local Authority Leaders’ Boards...
for Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
along the lines of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
and Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
.
Overview
Post Second World War Cornwall became increasingly linked with DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
in an economic, political and statistical sense (more recently this process had become known as "Devonwall
Devonwall
Devonwall was a political concept introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1970s by the Conservative government. It was an attempt to link Cornwall and Devon together in an economic, political and statistical sense to form a South West region...
-isation"). However, in the face mounting evidence that Cornwall's economic plight was deepening, Cornwall achieved NUTS2 status, allowing Cornwall's issues to become visible.
In 1998 Cornwall was recognised by the UK Government as having "distinct cultural and historical factors reflecting a Celtic background", thus enhancing the case for treating Cornwall as a special case in a regional, economic and cultural sense, and separate from Devon. Also after the 1997 general election the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
finally withdrew their support for the 'devonwall' process as they agreed with other pressure groups and the nationalist party Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow is a left-of-centre political party in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It primarily campaigns for devolution to Cornwall in the form of a Cornish Assembly, as well as social democracy and environmental protection.MK was formed as a pressure group in 1951, and contained as members activists...
that it undermined Cornwall's claims to European Objective One funding.
Proposals for some form of devolved Assembly for Cornwall are in fact, long standing. As long ago as 1970, J.C. Banks wrote "Federal Britain?", which included a discussion on the Cornish position.
During the 1990s the pace of debate gathered parallel to discussions relating to National Minority status for the Cornish under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed on February 1995 by 22 member States of the Council of Europe ....
, and recognition for the Cornish language
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
within the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a European treaty adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe...
(the latter campaign being subsequently successful).
In July 2000 Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow is a left-of-centre political party in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It primarily campaigns for devolution to Cornwall in the form of a Cornish Assembly, as well as social democracy and environmental protection.MK was formed as a pressure group in 1951, and contained as members activists...
issued the "Declaration for a Cornish Assembly", which said:
"Cornwall is a distinct region. It has a clearly defined economic, administrative and social profile. Cornwall's unique identity reflects its CeltCeltThe Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic character, culture and environment. We declare that the people of Cornwall will be best served in their future governance by a Cornish regional assembly. We therefore commit ourselves to setting up the Cornish Constitutional ConventionCornish Constitutional ConventionThe Cornish Constitutional Convention was formed in November 2000 with the objective of establishing a devolved Cornish Assembly . The Convention is a cross-party, cross-sector association with a strong consensus of support both in Cornwall and elsewhere...
with the intention of achieving a devolved Cornish Assembly - Senedh Kernow."
Three months later the Cornish Constitutional Convention (which had been meeting for some time as an informal discussion group) held its first open meeting to promote the objective of establishing a devolved Assembly. In less than two years, it had attracted the signatures of over 50,000 people on a petition calling for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly, which is a little over 10% of the total Cornish electorate. A delegation led by the West Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George and representatives of the Convention ' onMouseout='HidePop("10745")' href="/topics/Andrew_Climo">Andrew Climo
Andrew Climo
Andrew Climo is a Cornwall-based, British author, community activist and business strategist. He is Chief Executive and founder of Community Leaders CIC, a community development agency...
) presented the declaration to 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
on Wednesday 12 December 2001.
Currently the South West Regional Development Agency has control over areas such as economic development, housing and strategic planning, although it is now being woundup. The Liberal Democrats who have substantial support in the area, have referred to the Agency as "undemocratic and unaccountable".
In 2004 people in North East England
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
overwhelmingly voted no (78%) on a referendum to form a directly elected North East Assembly of the type that is proposed by Cornish nationalists. Had this assembly been formed government plans were to hold further votes in other regions including the south west. Following the no vote on the assembly then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
stated that his plans for regional devolution had been roundly defeated and the conservative spokesman for the regions Bernard Jenkin said ""The whole idea of regional government has been blown out of the water by this vote" and indeed no further moves of the type have been made by the government since.
Support for a Cornish Assembly
Cornwall County CouncilCornwall County Council
Cornwall Council is the unitary authority for Cornwall, in England, United Kingdom. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition of large groups of independents, having been controlled by independents in the 1970s and 1980s...
's Feb 2003 MORI
MORI
Ipsos MORI is the second largest market research organisation in the United Kingdom, formed by a merger of Ipsos UK and MORI, two of the Britain's leading survey companies in October 2005...
poll showed 55% in favour of an elected, fully devolved regional assembly for Cornwall and 13% against. (Previous result :46% in favour in 2002). However the same MORI poll indicated an equal number of Cornish respondents were in favour of a South West Regional Assembly, (70% in favour of a Cornish assembly, 72% in favour of a S.West Regional assembly) .
The campaign had the support of all five Cornish Lib Dem MPs, Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow is a left-of-centre political party in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It primarily campaigns for devolution to Cornwall in the form of a Cornish Assembly, as well as social democracy and environmental protection.MK was formed as a pressure group in 1951, and contained as members activists...
, and Cornwall Council.
Lord Whitty, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions
Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a UK Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions ....
, in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, recognised that Cornwall had a "special case" for devolution
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
. and on a visit to Cornwall Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
said "Cornwall has the strongest regional identity in the UK."
In October 2007 Lib Dem MP Andrew George stated in a press release, "Just because the Government has approached the whole Regional Devolution agenda in entirely the wrong way, does not mean to say that the project itself should be ditched. If Scotland is benefiting from devolution then Cornwall should learn from this and increase the intensity of its own campaign for devolution to a Cornish Assembly."
Altered Devolution Reforms
On Tuesday 17 July 2007, Local Government Minister John HealeyJohn Healey
John Healey is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Wentworth and Dearne since 1997, and former Minister of State for Housing and Planning. In 2010 he was elected to the shadow cabinet and appointed shadow health secretary...
MP announced Government plans to abolish regional assemblies
Regional Assemblies in England
The Regional Assemblies of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies established originally under the name Regional Chambers by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. They were abolished on 31 March 2010 and replaced by Local Authority Leaders’ Boards...
. The South West Regional Assembly
South West Regional Assembly
The South West Regional Assembly was the regional assembly for the South West region of England, established in 1999.It was wound up in December 2008, and its functions taken on by the Strategic Leaders' Board, the executive arm of the newly established South West Councils. Cllr. Angus Campbell,...
was replaced by the South West Regional Development Agency in 2010.
On 19 July 2007 MP Dan Rogerson
Dan Rogerson
Daniel John Rogerson is a Cornish Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for North Cornwall since the 2005 General election.-Early life:...
welcomed the government announcement that unelected Regional Assemblies are to be scrapped and he asked the government to look again at the case for a locally accountable Cornish Assembly and Cornish Development agency, "in light of the important convergence funding from the EU”. Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
MP Andrew George said in July 2007 I’m optimistic that the Minister’s announcement will give us the future prospects to build a strong consensus, demonstrate Cornwall’s distinctiveness from the Government zone for the South West and then draw up plans so that we can decide matters for ourselves locally rather than being told by unelected quango
Quango
Quango or qango is an acronym used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere to label an organisation to which government has devolved power...
s in Bristol and elsewhere.”
Government minister John Healey conceded that “Cornwall still faces some significant economic challenges” and said he would consider the need for a Cornish Development Agency alongside his decision on local government restructuring.
In December 2007 Cornwall Council Leader David Whalley stated “There is something inevitable about the journey to a Cornish Assembly. We are also moving forward in creating a Cornish Development Agency - we are confident that strategic planning powers will come back to us after the SW regional assembly goes.”.
In 2008 Parliament agreed plans to create a Unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
for the region, abolishing the six district councils. The unitary authority "One Cornwall" Council however does not have the same powers as the proposed Cornish Assembly. Cornish Objective One money continues to be managed from outside of Cornwall. There have in fact been suggestions that powers could be taken from the new Cornish unitary authority as it may struggle to cope with the extra workload inherited from the district councils. A premise for a single governing body for Cornwall was that the new Cornwall Council would have greater powers, being granted more responsibilities from Westminster.
The new Coalition Government introduced new legislation to windup the South West Regional Development Agency by March 2012 although with European funding programmes continuing into 2013.
In November 2010 British prime-minister, David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, said that his government would "devolve a lot of power to Cornwall - that will go to the Cornish unitary authority." Exactly what these powers will be is subject to speculation.
See also
- List of topics related to Cornwall
- Andrew George Cornish Lib Dem MP - St. Ives
- Matthew Taylor Cornish Lib Dem MP - Truro and St Austell
- Julia GoldsworthyJulia GoldsworthyJulia Anne Goldsworthy is a Special Adviser in HM Treasury to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. She was the Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne from 2005 until she lost her seat by 66 votes to George Eustice, the Conservative candidate in the 2010 general election in...
Cornish Lib Dem MP - Falmouth and Camborne - Dan RogersonDan RogersonDaniel John Rogerson is a Cornish Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for North Cornwall since the 2005 General election.-Early life:...
Cornish Lib Dem MP - Cornwall North - Colin BreedColin BreedColin Edward Breed is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for South East Cornwall from 1997 until he stood down at the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
Cornish Lib Dem MP - South East Cornwall - Regional Assemblies in EnglandRegional Assemblies in EnglandThe Regional Assemblies of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies established originally under the name Regional Chambers by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. They were abolished on 31 March 2010 and replaced by Local Authority Leaders’ Boards...
- English Core Cities GroupEnglish Core Cities GroupThe Core Cities Group is a coalition of some of England's major regional cities:*Birmingham - West Midlands*Bristol - South West England*Leeds - Yorkshire and the Humber*Liverpool - North West England*Manchester - North West England...
- Constitutional status of CornwallConstitutional status of CornwallCornwall is currently administered as a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England.However, a number of organisations and individuals question the constitutional basis for the administration of Cornwall as part of England, arguing that the Duchy Charters of 1337 place the governance of...
- Cornish self-government movementCornish self-government movementCornish nationalism is an umbrella term that refers to a cultural, political and social movement based in Cornwall, the most southwestern part of the island of Great Britain, which has for centuries been administered as part of England, within the United Kingdom...