Memorandum by Mebyon Kernow, the Party
for Cornwall (DRA 35)
Mebyon Kernow, the Party for Cornwall submits
that schedule 10 to Clause 143 of the Draft Regional Assemblies
Bill should be amended to omit the words "Cornwall"
and "Isles of Scilly"' from that paragraph of the Schedule
set against the words "South West"'. This will allow
measures to be brought forward for the establishment of a fully
devolved, democratically elected Cornish Assembly/Senedh Kernow
and so allow Cornwall to take its full and rightful place in a
Britain of Nations and Regions.
1. Mebyon Kernow, the Party for Cornwall
is committed to the self-government of Cornwall. We believe that
the people of Cornwall should have "maximum autonomy"—taking
all those political and economic decisions that they practically
can.
A DEMOCRATIC CHOICE
FOR CORNWALL
2. On 30 July 2002, Mebyon Kernow published
its response to the White Paper Your Region: Your Choice. Revitalising
the English Regions.
3. MK's response was entitled: A Democratic
Choice for Cornwall and has been e-mailed to the Select Committee.
4. It shows how Cornwall has been denied
local control compared with other Celtic and UK regions.
5. It explains why the people of Cornwall
will only accept "regional government", if the region
concerned is Cornwall.
6. It demands a referendum on a Cornish
Assembly.
7. It explains why the proposals outlined
in the White Paper will not work for Cornwall.
8. It shows that Cornwall has the attributes
to be a successful self-governing region.
9. It demonstrates why there is no support
for a south-west assembly in Cornwall.
10. It calls for the immediate setting up
of a legislative Cornish Assembly with powers at least equal to
those of the Scottish Parliament.
CORNWALL: THE
THREE RS
11. Mebyon Kernow has, in its communications
with Government, sought to promote the three Rs of any democratic
attitude to Cornwall.
12. Recognition. Cornwall is an integral
part of the United Kingdom one of the four nations that make up
Great Britain and a region of Europe.
13. Representation. The people of Cornwall
have the same right to be represented in their own assembly as
any other nation or region of the United Kingdom.
14. Responsibility. The people of Cornwall
should be responsible for their internal affairs just as the peoples
of Wales and Scotland are responsible for theirs.
15. These three demands are considered unexceptional
with respect to any other UK region—why should Cornwall
be denied them?
16. The frequent excuse for this denial
is size. Mebyon Kernow strongly asserts that to use the size of
a region as an excuse for denying it regional democracy is shameful.
CORNWALL: THE
IGNORED REGION
17. The history of the development of devolution
and regionalism in the United Kingdom has seen the Cornish case
ignored again and again.
18. No Government Office was set up for
Cornwall.
19. When the Scottish Parliament/Pa"rlamaid
na h-Alba, the Welsh Assembly/Cynulliad Cenedlaethal Cymru
and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established, no similar
legislation was brought forward to set up a Cornish Assembly/Senedh
Kernow.
20. No Cornish Development Agency was established.
The Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 listed Cornwall among
a number of English counties in its Schedule 1.
21. The White Paper Your Region Your
Choice made no mention of the Cornish question and retained
the RDA Act designation of the economic zones; styling them "regions".
22. Many Cornish organisations, local authorities
and individuals took part in the discussion after the White Paper—these
were largely ignored by Government.
23. The Regional Assemblies (Preparations)
Act 2003 maintained the supremacy of the RDA Act as far as
regional definitions were concerned. The special position of Cornwall
was once more ignored.
24. The ODPM's Sounding Exercise again drew
a large number of submissions from Cornwall. This time these were
not only ignored but publicly discounted.
CORNWALL: A DOOR
TO DEMOCRACY?
25. In each case the doors of democracy
were closed in Cornwall's face. Every chance for democratic advance
for our region was blocked. What of the present Bill?
26. Mebyon Kernow notes with great interest
that the definition of the English regions has been passed from
legislation concerning the unelected quangos to legislation concerning
elected regional assemblies.
27. This is an advance but has to be seen
in the context that Cornwall historically, culturally and constitutionally
is much more than a quaint county. We see it as a Celtic nation.
The feeling that it is a place apart grips everyone who crosses
the Tamar.
28. Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly, do
not sit comfortable in legislation designed for English regionalism.
29. The Draft Bill gives an opportunity,
at this very late stage, to address the Cornish Question after
all these wasted years.
MEBYON KERNOW'S
PROPOSITION
30. We therefore submit that the present
Bill can be amended in a way which, though a step forward for
Cornwall, will not injure general legislation.
31. Clause 143(1) of the Bill states: "The
regions for the purposes of this Act are the regions specified
in Schedule 10".
32. Schedule 10 defines the "South
West" as "The counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire,
Somerset and Wiltshire. "The non-metropolitan districts of
Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Bristol, North Somerset,
Plymouth, Poole, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Torbay. "The
Isles of Scilly".
33. Mebyon Kernow's submission is that the
words "Cornwall" and "The Isles of Scilly"
be omitted from this definition.
POLITICAL DE
-COUPLING
34. The so-called "south west"
region is unique. It, like the other regions, is artificial. However
it contains within its boundary a genuine, natural, historic nation—Cornwall.
In none of the purely English regions is this problem been faced.
It sometimes appears that the Government feels that if they ignore
Cornwall and the Cornish Question it will go away. It will not.
35. We believe that the proposal we put
forward would allow government to continue with its plans for
English regionalism while giving Cornwall, for the first time,
the opportunity to join in the devolution process as a full and
equal partner.
36. We do not think that the amendment proposed
would do any injury to the Regional Development Agencies Act
1998, the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003
or any Regional Assemblies Act.
37. We do not think that the proposal will
have any affect on the other English regions.
38. We feel that the affect on the South
West region—with its borders redefined at the River Tamar—would
be minimal.
39. The political de-coupling of Celtic
Cornwall from the English south west would be a democratic leap
forward for Cornwall and its people.
ADMINISTRATIVE DE
-COUPLING
40. The Objective One experience in Cornwall
should prove to the South West Regional Development Agency that
they are presiding over two regions which that have been administratively
coupled.
41. Indeed the SWRDA has recently sponsored
an extended series of feature articles in the Western Morning
News under the title: "Objective One: Is it a missed
opportunity?" But we have to remind ourselves that there
is no democratic control of Objective One funds and certainly
no control in Cornwall.
42. The proposal concerning Schedule 10
would, if it became part of the Act, demand of the SWRDA to accept
their two-regions status and take the necessary action:
43. Identity their Cornish competences.
44. Disaggregate them from the SW England
ones.
45. Merge them with the Cornish competences
of other SW or part-SW agencies and quangos.
46. Repatriate them to Cornwall as the nucleus
of a Cornish Office to service the Cornish Assembly/Senedh
Kernow.
47. The political and administrative de-coupling
should run hand in hand. The proposal put forward in this submission
opens a door, for the first time, for Cornwall to benefit from
the government's devolution programme.
THE CURRENT
PROSPECTS FOR
CORNWALL
48. The democratic prospects for Cornwall
under present and emerging legislation are poor.
49. If the Government decided to go ahead
with referendums on an elected regional assembly for the south
west and unitary local authorities within the current two-tier
county areas—of which Cornwall is one—any referendum
for a Cornish Assembly would be literally out of the question.
In this regard the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003
is defective.
50. Any recommendations made by the Boundary
Committee for England for unitary authorities to replace the two-tier
arrangement in Cornwall would be hostile to the establishment
of regional democracy in Cornwall.
51. A single Cornish unitary authority would
condemn the governance of Cornwall to stagnate at the local government
level for the foreseeable future.
52. Two or three unitaries in Cornwall
would lead to the break up, disintegration and abolition of this
proud Celtic land.
53. The "expanding" of the neighbouring
Plymouth unitary into Caradon would be a violation of Cornwall's
borders.
54. Mebyon Kernow believes that the proposal
it puts forward here would avoid all these dangers and open up
the prospects of a Cornish solution to devolution within the Duchy.
THE ALTERNATIVE
PROSPECTS FOR
CORNWALL
55. Mebyon Kernow has drafted two Bills
one of which has been presented to the Government.
56. MK's Draft Cornish Assembly (Referendum)
Bill shows that legislation can be enacted to bring about a referendum
in Cornwall for the people of Cornwall to vote on whether there
should be an elected regional assembly for Cornwall.
57. The second draft Bill is superseded
by the submission—Draft Regional Development Agencies (Amendment)
(Cornwall) Bill. This sought to show how Cornish devolution could
be de-coupled from English regionalism by amending Schedule 1
to the Regional Development Agencies Act 1969.
58. If our current proposals are not successful,
we will be calling on the Government to amend Schedule 10 (or
its successor in any final Act) through a Draft Regional Assemblies
(Amendment) (Cornwall) Bill.
60. If the amendment to Schedule 10 proposed
here is successful, the government can carry on its plans for
English regionalism and act together with the people of Cornwall
and her representative, business and voluntary organisations to
bring the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle of a Britain of Nations
and Regions into play.
61. Cornwall has, thus far, missed out entirely
in this project.
62. There has been no Green Paper or White
Paper for Cornwall, no chance for our people (who have a settled
will that the only region for Cornwall is Cornwall) to discuss
what sort of future a devolved Cornwall should have, what institutions,
powers and functions, local government, relations with neighbours
and with Europe.
63. For its size—½ million—there
has been a remarkable interest in devolution in Cornwall. 50,000
people signed individual declarations to the Prime Minister calling
for a Cornish Assembly.
64. In 2002 the Beaufort Survey showed 46%
in favour of a Cornish Regional Assembly.
65. A University College of London study
in the same year declared a Cornish Region "viable".
66. MORI sounding with Your Region: Your
Choice showed 55% support for a Cornish Assembly in 2003.
67. Cornwall County Council has called for
a referendum to be held in Cornwall so the people can choose (2003).
68. Kernewek, the Cornish language,
has been recognised by the Government in the European Charter
for Regional or Minority Languages. This Charter condemns the
setting up of administrative units detrimental to such languages.
CONCLUSION
From the 1976 Green Paper Devolution: The
English Dimension to the Draft Regional Assembly Bill
now before your Committee, the demands of the people of Cornwall
that they too should be part of the de-centralisation of powers
within the United Kingdom have been ignored. You have the opportunity
to open a door for Cornwall to be part of a Britain of Nations
and Regions, to be recognised as a natural region, its people
represented in their own devolved assembly and responsible for
their internal affairs—just like all the other nations and
regions in the UK. The removal of the words "Cornwall"'
and "Isles of Scilly" from Schedule 10 to Clause 143
of this Draft Bill could open up a new chapter of history for
Cornwall. Do not turn your back on our "little land of Cornwall".
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