The price we pay to have no Cornish democracy

[cornubian]

Apart from the powerful influence the Duchy has over decision making in Cornwall, Kernow, as you may know, is largely governed by unelected, unrepresentative, undemocratic government bodies and quangos.

Before I go on let me just introduce a couple of new words to help describe the Cornish situation. Cornwall, like the English counties in the rest of the South West peninsula, is run by a quangocracy, it is governed by quangocrats.

These quangos that we cannot choose and who we have no control over have got more expensive. More than 36 million pounds was needed to run the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), the South West Regional Assembly (SWRA), and the Government Office for the South West (GOSW) last year. In 2000/01 the cost was 17 million pounds, a whopping 114% increase.

As well as these 'running costs' regional development agencies are also handed generous budgets to carry out their work. For example the UK government gave the SWRDA about 62 million pounds in 2000/01, and 150 million pounds by 2005/06. The chief executive of the body can expect an annual salary, bonus and pension package of more than 170,000 pounds.

At the same time administrative costs at the GOSW have shot from 8.71 million pounds to 14.82 million last year.

"Ah but what about Cornwall County Council (CCC)" I hear you ask.

Yes what about them! CCC is a council that has decided to spend more of our money on a magazine to 'get its message across' to us. The cost of this little project has been estimated at 360,000 pounds. So there you go, our money spent on council propaganda as opposed to front line services!

Yes what about the Liberal Democrat controlled county council, and all five Lib Dem MP's for that matter? Well I seem to remember them promising in their election manifesto to fight for an elected Cornish assembly that would replace the quangos in Cornwall. What have we got instead? The whole Lib Dem family supporting the single unitary authority for Cornwall proposal that will see the money squandering county council consume the district councils but remain a puppet of those unelected, undemocratic and very expensive quangos.

Various opinion polls and the petition of 50,000 have demonstrated that the Cornish public is ready and willing to take more control over its own future, so how about, for once, our elected representatives standing up for us?

This brings me to the Cornish Assembly petition. Why is the government happy to let us rest under the governance of a bunch of quangos when we have so clearly asked for change? Mebyon Kernow asked the government under the freedom of information's act for all material related to the decision making process on this matter; who was consulted; who intervened etc. HMG has so far declined to release any information on the subject suggesting that it might not be in the public interest. Are you interested, I know I am!

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have admitted that ‘The Department holds the information you are seeking’ - but enabling the Cornish to see it and the whole decision making process is proving much harder, why?

Which brings me full circle back to the beginning of my letter and the question, what or who is the government sheltering behind this refusal to release information; this total disrespect for the Cornish public's right to know?

Cornwall 24: http://www.cornwall24.co.uk/

Mebyon Kernow: http://www.mebyonkernow.org/Public/Stories/89-1.shtml

The Cornish Stannary Parliament: http://www.cornishstannaryparliament.co.uk/
A civil rights pressure group dragging the UK government and Duchy of Cornwall through the UK and European courts.

The Cornish Constitutional Convention: http://www.cornishassembly.org/

CornishnotEnglish.com: http://www.cornishnotenglish.com/

Tyr Gwyr Gweryn (land truth people): http://www.kernowtgg.co.uk/

This is not Cornwall! This is Kernow!: http://www.thisisnotcornwall.co.uk/index.html

Cornish Bureau of European Relations (CoBUR): http://geocities.com/coberltd/

Outside Cornwall

England Devolve: http://www.devolve.org/

Eurominority: http://www.eurominority.org/version/eng/

Eurolang: http://www.eurolang.net/index.php

Federal Union of European Nationalities: http://www.fuen.org/

[Riadach]

I wonder would you not be better off throwing your lot in with the welsh. You've a lot in common afterall.

[John_C]

"Ah but what about Cornwall County Council (CCC)" I hear you ask.

You know, in my entire life, I have never heard anyone ask that.

[Thar an Phail]

Apart from the powerful influence the Duchy has over decision making in Cornwall, Kernow, as you may know, is largely governed by unelected, unrepresentative, undemocratic government bodies and quangos.

Before I go on let me just introduce a couple of new words to help describe the Cornish situation. Cornwall, like the English counties in the rest of the South West peninsula, is run by a quangocracy, it is governed by quangocrats.

These quangos that we cannot choose and who we have no control over have got more expensive. More than 36 million pounds was needed to run the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), the South West Regional Assembly (SWRA), and the Government Office for the South West (GOSW) last year. In 2000/01 the cost was 17 million pounds, a whopping 114% increase.

As well as these 'running costs' regional development agencies are also handed generous budgets to carry out their work. For example the UK government gave the SWRDA about 62 million pounds in 2000/01, and 150 million pounds by 2005/06. The chief executive of the body can expect an annual salary, bonus and pension package of more than 170,000 pounds.

At the same time administrative costs at the GOSW have shot from 8.71 million pounds to 14.82 million last year.

UK Independence is strongly opposed to regionalisation, which is driven by the EU.

We belive in local democracy.

UKIP are the main force fighting these evil quangos throughout England.

[woodie]

I thought the EU was all about centralisation, you know 'superstates', 'federalism', the 'undermining of national identities' and all that jazz???