Posts: 62
Posted:
14.Jun 2008 - 23:03
I am a former resident of Cornwall, now living in XXX. I have some concerns about the way Cornwall is handled at a governmental level; and I thought that you, as Shadow Minister for Cornwall, might be the person to guide me in the right direction. Could you advise me to whom I should address each of the following concerns?
i) The continued use of the term County of Cornwall instead of Duchy of Cornwall at both Westminster and Council levels, completely disregarding the legally founded recommendations of The Kilbrandon Report of 1971.
ii) The rejection of a Cornish tick box under the general British category in the planned 2011 census form, thus forcing Cornish people to reject either their Britishness or their Cornishness.
iii) The continued silence on the subject of any form of devolvement for Cornwall, despite all five of Cornwall's Members of Parliament being in favour of a devolved regional Cornish Assembly, and 500,546 signatories petitioning a request for such a development.
iv) The more recent move by the Department for Transport to standardise all English bus passes for people over sixty, complete with St George's Cross and English Rose symbolism, and insensitively including Cornwall in the scheme, with the words "Cornwall COUNTYWIDE" only adding insult to injury.
If you could put me in the right direction in order to best address these concerns, I would be extremely grateful.
I have been browsing your official website, and am finding it difficult to locate any reference to your activities as Shadow Minister for Cornwall. I'm pretty certain I must be looking in the wrong place. Could you set me straight?
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
XXX XXX
P.S. I will be publishing a copy of this email on the popular Cornwall24 website. XX
So walk the path to freedom true
And be you not distracted by
Oppressors from the East by whom
Your treasures are extracted dry
Posts: 62
Posted:
15.Jul 2008 - 15:27
Administratively Cornwall has been treated as a County and you are right that this fails to recognise that Cornwall and the Cornish sense of identity are unique. Both you and I may be émigrés, but we both still feel a sense of Cornish identity.
My main concern is that all recent reorganisations have dragged decision making east of the Tamar. The Regional Assemblies are a good example of this and it's why my Party intends to scrap them.
It is also why the Conservatives intend to end the regional planning diktat and return to the Cornish people - and their representatives - the power to decide what is built in their communities and where it is built. We are also looking at what other powers can be returned, for example in the field of local economic development. In that sense we are more considered with handing back specific powers than the wider debate about an Assembly versus the new unitary council.
The plans for that unitary have been poorly prepared and pushed through without a popular mandate, by the Labour and LibDem parties. However it is now going to happen and it's important that we try and make the best of the situation.
Yours sincerely
Mark Prisk MP
(Hertford & Stortford)
Shadow Minister, Enterprise , Deregulation & Competition and Shadow Minister for Cornwall
So walk the path to freedom true
And be you not distracted by
Oppressors from the East by whom
Your treasures are extracted dry
Posts: 62
Posted:
15.Jul 2008 - 15:29
Thank you very much for your reply. I think some Cornish people may in fact be looking forward to the new unitary council, providing it emphasises the duchy status of Cornwall . I agree that the economic and democratic powers of local communities are more important than any cultural demands of the larger unit. Nevertheless, I wish to pursue the more cultural issues with the appropriate people. Are you able to advise me as to how I might achieve this, particularly with regard to each of the four points raised in my first email to yourself?
Would you also permit me to publish your latest email to me on the Cornwall24 site?
So walk the path to freedom true
And be you not distracted by
Oppressors from the East by whom
Your treasures are extracted dry
Posts: 62
Posted:
15.Jul 2008 - 15:32
I am quite happy for you to publish my previous email.
Yours sincerely
Mark Prisk MP
(Hertford & Stortford)
Shadow Minister, Enterprise , Deregulation & Competition and Shadow Minister for Cornwall
So walk the path to freedom true
And be you not distracted by
Oppressors from the East by whom
Your treasures are extracted dry
Posts: 3892
Posted:
15.Jul 2008 - 15:40
edited by: marhak, Jul 15, 2008 - 02:40 PM
Posts: 62
Posted:
15.Jul 2008 - 15:48
So walk the path to freedom true
And be you not distracted by
Oppressors from the East by whom
Your treasures are extracted dry
Posts: 4525
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 18:43
You'd have thought that considering Cornwall various campaigns to keep things local over the years DD would have shown more of an interest in us.
I wonder why they haven't? Probably worth asking.
The Cornish Democrat
The Breton Connection
Posts: 1039
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 20:33
Red yellow or blue. It's just a shuffling around of the shite. They are all Corporate Puppets to a man.
As Hunlef says on another thread :
edited by: GrahamHart, Jul 16, 2008 - 08:34 PM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where there's a Negative - there's always a Positive. You just have to find it.
Posts: 62
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 21:59
So walk the path to freedom true
And be you not distracted by
Oppressors from the East by whom
Your treasures are extracted dry
Posts: 2674
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 22:14
Posts: 1039
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 22:30
When the oppressors show a bit of willing, attitudes will soften, and I agree on manners during debate, but not on general overhaul bullshit that these people pump out.
Red Yellow or Blue, different Puppets - Same Puppeteer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where there's a Negative - there's always a Positive. You just have to find it.
Posts: 374
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 22:41
Posts: 2674
Posted:
16.Jul 2008 - 22:42
Quite right. They reap what they sow
Posts: 4525
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 09:37
If they really want to oust the Lib dems (no bad thing) then they need to try a bit harder.
Former Conservative MP for Falmouth and Camborne David Mudd
edited by: Fulub-le-Breton, Jul 21, 2008 - 10:38 AM
The Cornish Democrat
The Breton Connection
Posts: 972
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 11:49
Posts: 530
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 14:54
Atleast the Tories have the sense to dance, which is more than you'd get from labour, and unlike the libdems the tories might get into power, and once they have power there is a chance that they could do something, especially if cornwall returns a few marginal tory MPs that they'd like to hold on too.
At the moment the best bet looks like independent/tory pact in One Cornwall in 2009 (fingers crossed that Whalley stays in charge talk sh1te 'til next year) and the Tories in westminster in 2010. In might be a bitter pill for the lefties and backwoodsmen here, but this is the best chance that cornwall has to get any recognition without external intervention or violence.
edited by: IrishJack, Jul 21, 2008 - 02:58 PM
Tiocfaidh ar La,
But I'm starting to think that it won't for us cornish, no unity, no leadership, but lots of factions and backbiting
The Bureaucracy needs to expand to meet the needs of the Bureaucracy
http://www.ross...ollkelly.ie/
online
Posts: 1063
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 15:42
With the Tory record regarding "the Celtic fringe", especially Ireland, I am a bit sceptical of your assessment.
edited by: P_Trembath, Jul 21, 2008 - 03:43 PM
Kernow Kensa!
Our day will come!
"Everyone has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too old or too young to do something."
Posts: 2674
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 16:00
Posts: 530
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 16:25
My bad experience of the tories from the 70s, 80s and 90s is more that they were capitalistic and not mindful of communities and social issues, to put it mildly. They also have the grey brigade NT types which is particularly unhelpful in cornwall.
But we have a choice of 3 national parties (sorry MK not there yet), of which 2 have a chance of controlling power, Labour have no interest in cornwall and see it as a bit of tuscany in the SW region, a long way from their power base in the north and with seats that are virtually unwinnable for them. Also, nulab is completely centre control based.
The new cuddly tories are also centrist, but apparently less obsessed with centralised command and control structures, atleast they have a shadow minister for us, who can make vaguely appealing statements, and suggests that atleast someone in their national party in power in future at Westminister might have some interst in us, especially if we provide potentially defensible marginal seats.
The LDs are a waste of time, powerless in westminster, backstabbing liars at local level. independents or tories are our best bet, (independent votes being critical at times and even more powerful if parliament is anywhere near being hung)
Posts: 4525
Posted:
21.Jul 2008 - 19:05
I have to agree. I don't like the Tories but I hope they wipe the floor with the LieDumbs. Then at least MK would have a proper right wing party to lay into. Tory localism can't be any worse than Lie Dumb Unitary Authorities slotted into Nu Labour regions.
The Cornish Democrat
The Breton Connection