Census 'must let Cornish record their identity'
CAMPAIGNERS are stepping up their bid to have Cornish listed as a nationality in the 2011 census.
Thousands have joined the crusade online while MPs and councillors have pledged to lobby the Government to ensure people from Cornwall do not have their identity "swept aside just because they are small in number".
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Under current plans, there will be no tick-box for people responding to the census to say they are "Cornish". Instead, they will have to tick "other" and then write in their response.
Critics say the omission will mean many people who consider themselves to be Cornish will not realise they can do this, and instead select one of the other options: English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British.
In 2001, some 37,000 people recorded their nationality as Cornish, leading officials to assign the response a designated code for the first time.
Now campaigners hope to raise the profile of the option to encourage more people to do the same – including a major Internet operation – eventually forcing organisers to provide a Cornish tick-box.
A video launched on YouTube claims it is "unjust and unfair" for Cornwall to be overlooked and not "treated in the same way as other UK indigenous minorities".
It also claims: "The continued refusal of Cornish recognition can only be explained as deliberate cultural genocide."
And on social networking website Facebook, a group called "Cornish Tickbox for the 2011 Census" has attracted the support of more than 2,800 people, including leading MPs, councillors and parliamentary candidates.
The site says: "Many citizens of Cornwall have considered themselves to be different from English for centuries. In Cornwall today, many consider themselves to be Cornish, not English, however, in the plans announced already, there will be no recognition for 'Cornish' on the 2011 census.
"There is, however, a community of us on Facebook that are trying to get the Government to change their decision over this, and to include Cornish on the census."
Meanwhile, the Office of National Statistics is coming under growing political pressure from the county's MPs, including Julia Goldsworthy (Falmouth and Camborne) and Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) who have demanded a tick-box for Cornwall.
St Ives MP Andrew George has urged people to ensure they record their nationality as Cornish, even if a box is not made available.
"It is important that Cornish people should be given the opportunity to record their identity," he said.
"The Cornish identity should neither be ignored nor suppressed in the modern United Kingdom – we make a significant contribution to the celebration of diversity throughout this country and in a wider world. No-one's identity should be ignored, or swept aside just because they are small in number."
The issue of Cornish language and identity was "considered" by the Office of National Statistics but was "not included in the proposals for the 2011 census".
Other topics considered, but rejected, included fertility, Internet access, pet ownership and use of renewable energy resources.
109 Comments
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by Jim Pengelly, Kernow GB
Wednesday, September 02 2009, 11:10AM
“agr ¿ Truro, you appear to want to treat this as your personal blog, when it is simply an opportunity for everyone to comment on the article. All your points have already been answered in the various responses to your many postings. However, when given the opportunity to record themselves as ¿Cornish¿ - whether responding within an ¿ethnic¿ or ¿national¿ context - each person will have their own knowledge and perception that they are. You are attempting to return to some sterile clinical point that, again, has no relevance. You may as well say that we are all just human beings.
I consider myself to be Cornish (cultural nation) and European (political arrangement). You have only identified yourself as ¿European¿. You seem to have some view on British, which you mistake as a nation, when it is no more than a politically contrived arrangement. You erroneously imply that the Cornish are fighting to be free of the British ¿ do you mean English, I wonder? ¿ when we are only talking about recording our legitimate right to be ¿Cornish¿, and being seen to be Cornish. The Cornish throughout history, have always been the direct descendants of the ¿real¿ British, namely, pre-5th century, people. I have deliberately omitted ¿British¿ from my stated identity above, because it is a historically abused and corrupted term (synonymous with English) and fails to recognise the Cornish.
I would like, also, to correct another erroneous point. Cornwall IS a nation, that is wilfully suppressed by the existing political hegemony. Europe, as also Britain, cannot become a nation without imposing the historical excesses of imperialistic politics. You once again finish up with a rather ambiguous and dubious statement reflecting upon ¿respecting themselves more than others¿. Such a state of mind comes from those that have no identity and wish to impose this anonymity on others. The Cornish respect their own (threatened) identity and, as a consequence, also respect others because they understand the VALUE of identity. We can certainly leave it there and continue, if you wish on the Cornwall24 forum.”
by John Gillingham, Cornwall, Europe, World
Wednesday, September 02 2009, 11:02AM
“AGR - Why do you stop at 'European'? Why not call yourself 'Worldian' or 'Human'?
But then one of the things that makes us European or Human is that we divide ourselves up into groups of people we feel close to.
This closeness can be from familial bonds, work, geographical location, language, etc...”
by a g rawlings, truro
Wednesday, September 02 2009, 9:50AM
“I have nothing against people who are born in the county of Cornwall. So let us agree that we are all the same in body but not views. Like us you came from Europe and I'm proud of my European race. With regard to the census and putting Cornish on it, how do we define what Cornish means? Is it someone born in the county that does not want to speak or read or support their history? This are questions I'm unable to answer, as if you are of mixed race and born in Cornwall are you a true Cornish person? These are things you may be able to answer as to ticking a box. I have not and will not be insulting to people just because my views differ from a minority of people who are fighting to be free from the British people. You want Cornwall a nation while I want Europe a nation, so is that being insulting? I have ask you question that you choose not to answer, which is your right. Could we now call this a day and live in our own world of a different opinion of people that respect themself more than others.”
by Jim Pengelly, Kernow GB
Tuesday, September 01 2009, 11:27PM
“Correction agr ¿ Truro: this is about the right of ¿the Cornish¿ to declare themselves as Cornish on the ONS 2011 Census return. Nothing to do with race, nothing to do with Europe and nothing to do with anything other than people¿s desire, and inalienable right, to self-identify based on a territorial/cultural identity to which they relate and with which they identify. It is about a basic human right that has hitherto been denied to us and which we rightly demand. How could any reasonable person refuse this right? Have you campaigned on any other forum against the inclusion of the other ethnic and national options on the proposed Census form?
If you had bothered to read, and understand my posting, you will note that I also think that we are all the same ¿ except where we rightfully identify ourselves as ¿different¿ for the reasons I gave. Your narrow obsession with race has nothing to do with it. Other spurious points you seem to wish to dwell on are ¿independence¿ and the Cornish language. Your question on that is quite offensive and I would ask if you have ever pursued the writings of Raphael Lemkin? However, what has any of this to do with recording one¿s identity. Your comments are, to be polite, quite bizarre and neither ¿British¿, nor ¿European¿ can be legitimately construed as an existing, or aspiring nation, even though the former has hijacked the term. Your final two sentences clearly illustrate just how bogus your postings are.”
by Moonshine, Kernow
Tuesday, September 01 2009, 10:42PM
“@AGR Truro.. "This is not about what you own or owned, this is about us all being of European race. "
Its about ethnicity. Why are you prattling on about race?
Do you have a problem with people ticking any box on the census or is it just the Cornish you take issue with?
If so, why?”