Beach Ices at Praa Sands
Ice meeting the sand at the base of the low cliff behind Praa Sands Beach, West Cornwall. 6th January 2009....
Icicles at Trewellard Bottoms
Water seeping through a wall is turned to icicles, ate Trewellard Bottoms, where Geevor Mine meets the sea....
Winter Sunset at Levant
A late afternoon scene, at Levant Mine, West Cornwall. 7th January 2009....
Winter at Levant
The old electricity generator building, at Levant Mine, West Cornwall, during the recent cold snap. 7th Jnauary 2009....
The Cornish branch of the Celtic League have been lobbying a number
of organisations and individuals as part of the campaign approved
at this years Celtic League AGM to include a Cornish nationality option
in the 2011 Census.
One of the more prominent individuals lobbied is Communities Minister
Hazel Blears. a copy of the correspondence to her is set out below:
"Hazel Blears MP
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House,
Bressenden Place,
London SW1E 5DU
hazel.blears@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Dear Hazel Blears
National Identity Tick Box for Cornish on 2011 Census
I am writing to you on behalf of the Celtic League to determine what
authority and/or influence the Government have over the content of
the population censuses that are undertaken every ten years by the
Office of National Statistics throughout the UK, Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
At our last AGM in 2007, the following resolution was passed:
"That the Annual General Meeting of the Celtic League in Cardiff on
29 th September, 2007, calls upon the Westminster Government and the
Office for National Statistics to include a specific Cornish tick
box in the Census planned for 2011 so giving the Cornish people parity
with the other Celtic Nations and National Minorities of Great Britain."
We are aware that last year the Westminster Government decided once
again not to include the Cornish under the Framework Convention for
the Protection for National Minorities (FCPNM) and that the Cornish
ethnic group is not currently officially recognized by the Government.
However, I am writing to you to ask what the implications of this
are for the purposes of the population Census mentioned above. Assuming
that the Government has some influence and/or authority over the content
of the next Census in 2011, would the Cornish still nevertheless be
entitled to have their own tick box response category?
You may be interested to know in the 2001 Census, the Cornish were
given their own code (06) and 34,000 people in Cornwall and 3,500
people in the rest of the UK made use of this option, even though
there was little official publicity to advertise the fact that this
could be done. Taking into consideration the fact that it was neither
clear which tick box to mark and that people had to first deny being
British to utilise the option, this was a significant phenomenon,
given the conditions and it represented 7% of the population of Cornwall.
Those people wishing to describe their identity as Welsh were also
given their own code, like the Cornish, but in March of 2006 the ONS
announced that there would be a separate tick box response category
for Welsh in the 2011 Census. We would therefore like to know if this
decision had to be approved by the Government beforehand or does the
ONS have the authority to make such decisions independently?
If the Government needs to approve the type of decision that would
allow the Cornish their own separate tick box response category, would
the Government be prepared to do this for Cornish? If not, are you
able to provide us with a clear reason why? In view of the fact that
Cornish was given its own code for the 2001 Census, would not the
logical step therefore be that Cornish is now given its own separate
tick box response category in 2011?
We look forward to receiving your response to theses questions."
I can be e-mailed at : michael.chappell@midasdsl.com
(Please no threatening or abusive e-mails)
I'm a member of the International Celtic League : http://www.celticleague.net
Good post, I can remember some time back now having a letter sent home with one of my kids from school asking if we wished her to be reffered to as Cornish under the ethinic minorities,,of course I said yes,, and I think some schools have now indeed included a tick box for that,, which is good....this bit from your post though does cause me some concern, and I have seen this before, I think there is some confusion here,,,,,I quote from your post this bit....
Taking into consideration the fact that it was neither
clear which tick box to mark and that people had to first deny being
British to utilise the option, this was a significant phenomenon,
Unquote,,,,Just because you deny being English does not mean you deny being British, there are some people out there who think that it does,, well it does not, and I think this needs to be clarified officialy...
e,g,
If Your Welsh your British/welsh
Northern Irish British/Irish
Scotland British/Scotish
Cornish British/Cornish
And of Course Isle of Man British/Manx
All Celtic Nations,, any official forms that I fill out that ask for my nationalality and or ethnic background where it say's OTHER I tick Cornish never had one returned!!
So be British and Be Cornish but most of all be proud of it!!
Assumption, is the Mother of all Cockups!
Better to have it and not need it, than to need it, and not have it!
Kernow Bys Vyken
"Brittish" has different definitions for different people.
I am Scottish, Celtic, and European.
Although geographicly and historicly i am a Briton, sadly i could never describe myself as Brittish, as this has come to imply acceptance of the London controlled UK.
Perhaps when the Celtic countries have control of their own affairs, England will return to calling themselves English, and we can reclaim our Brittish name.
If you were born in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall or England and even the Isles of Scilly your British,,Simple as that...and any other land island or colony that lives under the British flag and or Government.
Assumption, is the Mother of all Cockups!
Better to have it and not need it, than to need it, and not have it!
Kernow Bys Vyken
I and my family will not complete Census 2011 unless there is a Cornish tick box - simple as that and they can threaten me and mine with anything they care to. I know of people who similarly declined to complete the last census and who despite threats were not proceeded against in any court.
If there is a Welsh tick box, an Irish tick box and a Scottish tick box - which there quite rightly is - then there should be one for the Cornish.
I can be e-mailed at : michael.chappell@midasdsl.com
(Please no threatening or abusive e-mails)
I'm a member of the International Celtic League : http://www.celticleague.net
A write-in of 'Cornish' would be better than a refusal to touch the form, you would think. On account of, they can bin the blank form, but a write-in is bound to be categorised as such.
Laghyades
Gonisogeth. Ertach. Gyllys, gyllys glan. Hemm yw an fordh a draow. Dons. Ons. Ha dehwelons. Pan awen kov koth aga fleghes.
On the 2001 census if you wanted to record your identity as Cornish then you had to tick the 'other' box and then write in 'Cornish' in the blank space provided. However in ticking the 'other' box you had to ignore the British tick box and therefore indirectly deny being British.
For me this was no real problem as I see the UK/British state as an outdated anglo-imperial construction, but I know for a fact their are plenty of Cornish (not English) British out there.
Legally I am a UK subject/citizen and geographically a Brition (as the Danish and Swedish are Scandinavian) but my nation is Cornwall.
As for the Manx, Channel Islanders and other overseas protectorates I am not so sure they are British.
The Cornish have been rendered invisible by previous censuses by the UK government. They are an indigenous national minority of the United Kingdom, possessors of a recognised minority language of these islands under the Council of Europe's Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. If the UK government has made legal undertakings with the Council of Europe to take "resolute" action in support of the language, how on Earth is it going to measure its compliance with international legal obligations with respect both to this language and to the people associated with it, if it does not include relevant tick boxes in forthcoming censuses ?
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