The Cornish go to court

[cornubian]

In a scenario resembling the Biblical account of David and Goliath, enigmatic Cornish activist, researcher, historian and author, John Angarrack, who enjoys cult status in the Duchy, is now, once again, preparing to lead a legal challenge to the UK government's failure to recognise the indigeneous Cornish people as a national minority of Great Britain.

In denying the Cornish this right and their inclusion in the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Westminster Government are flying directly in the face not only of public opinion in the Duchy, but also against the recommendations of the Cornwall Council, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Council of Europe itself.

The right to be regarded as a National Minority has been accorded to Irish Travellers, Ulster Scots and many other groups. Thus far, the Cornish have been refused and the Westminster Government have thrown massive resources to block their attempts.

The Cornish people seek nothing more or nothing less than the same rights accorded to these people as well as to the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish, to name but a few.

There is now a groundswell of support for the proper teaching of Cornish issues in Cornish schools following pupils being expelled for declaring themselves Cornish and asking to know more of their own history, language and culture which has been hidden from successive generations down the years.

The feeling amongst many activists is that the real force behind the effort to secure proper recognition for the Cornish who are not English, their ancient Celtic language, their unique and distinctive non English history and their culture is in fact Prince Charles, who wields enormous power and influence in his Duchy. Charles retains to legal right to interfere with any proceedings in any Court, or indeed anywhere else, which may affect his considerable income derived from Cornwall. Media interference has occurred and court hearings manipulated.

Mr. Angarrack has made a previous attempt to challenge the Westminster Government and the matter progressed to the High Court. There, the government employed the best lawyers and eventually, Angarrack and the Cornish conceded defeat as they quite simply ran out of funds.

Cornish mistrust of the Duke has now spread to the Isles of Scilly where home owning islanders have begun to feel the force of Duke Charles and who are also mounting a challenge to him there over the issue of housing.

Angarrack, concurrent with the launch of his latest book 'Scat t' Larrups' which revealed the police and authoritarian state extant in the Duchy, has commissioned two websites recently.

The first reveals the true side of Duke Charles and his Cornish Duchy and the second now appeals to the public for pledges of cash to fund a second legal challenge to the Westminster (and perhaps Duke Charles) Government. With a target of £100,000, remarkably, the sum of £21,275 (as at 6th Sept. 2008) has already been pledged within a few weeks. This is astonishing bearing in mind that Cornwall has been assessed as one of the poorest areas within Europe let alone Britain with the majority of the population earning the minimum wage or less in the case of the 'black' tourist industry with its history of appalling working conditions and legal rights.

The back ground to the truth behind the Duchy of Cornwall can be found here:

http://duchyofcornwall.eu/

The Cornish Fighting Fund website can be found here:

http://www.cornishfightingfund.org/index.php

To read of the Cornish Scillonians' fight against Duke Charles:

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/home...l/article.html

[ibis]

Yay for a Europe of the Regions!

[Helium Three]

Yay for a Europe of the Regions!

Any resemblance to the tactic 'divide and rule' is entirely coincidental.

[Fergalino]

The EU is actually very pro the protection to minority languages. Welsh and Scottish can now be used in Council meetings.

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?optio ... 6&Itemid=0

[ArtyQueing]

I do so hope that you are more successful than your attempts to block the Poll Tax. It is about time the Cornish stood up for their nation and Ireland should be helping them.

[floatingingalway]

Cornwall for the Cornish,
A Stone wall for the Astonished

[cornubian]

I'm actually a bit shocked to have had some positive responses to this post. Thanks and we really do need all the help we can get.

For a bit of shameless self promotion here is an article I wrote for the OurKingdom blog run by Open Democracy.

Cornish to mount legal Challenge: Cornish to mount legal challenge | open Democracy News Analysis

[jfk2008]

Do most Cornish want devolution like the Welsh and Scots have or do they want independence? What percentage of the population speaks the language?

Rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn !

[corelli]

I'm actually a bit shocked to have had some positive responses to this post. Thanks and we really do need all the help we can get.

For a bit of shameless self promotion here is an article I wrote for the OurKingdom blog run by Open Democracy.

Cornish to mount legal Challenge: Cornish to mount legal challenge | open Democracy News Analysis

I presume they don't expect to win,but rather it is a public relations exercise?

[cornubian]

As far as devolution is concerned we collected a petition of 50,000 signatures in 2002 calling for a fully devolved assembly equal to the Welsh assembly. Opinon polls put interest at about 55%. All totally ignored by Nu Labour.

Here's the text off the back of the new flyer to pomote the Cornish Fighting Fund

AIMS
A legal battle against the UK Gov by the Cornwall2000 pressure group to include Cornish people in the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) - to raise £100,000 in pledges to cover the potential costs incurred taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

FACTS
The Cornish fit all criteria for inclusion in the FCNM but the UK Gov have singled them out as the only group NOT to be included. Cornwall County Council, the UK Commission for Racial Equality and the Council of Europe itself have all strongly advised the UK Gov to include the Cornish, but to no avail. This reluctance is believed to be based on unresolved territorial issues and the ambiguous legal status of the Duchy of Cornwall. The Cornish seem to be the unwitting victims of the Governments desire to suppress these issues and maintain the status quo.

BENEFITS
Under protection from the FCNM the Cornish would gain official recognition as a minority group within the UK and treated the same as other included groups i.e. Ulster-Scots, Welsh, Gaels, Irish Travellers etc. Apart from providing the Cornish with parity of esteem and equality of status, the FCNM would strengthen the Cornish identity by, among other things, bringing to an end the suppression of Cornish history in schools.

EDUCATION
Whether Cornish or English, school children in the Duchy are forced to adhere to an English National Curriculum. This curriculum does not meet the Governments legal obligations regarding the provision of a pluralistic educational programme. It also fails to fulfil the educational needs of Cornish children - who are obliged to undergo forced assimilation. The FCNM has within it a provision to end forced assimilation of minorities, and this is one reason why Government are so determined to prevent the Cornish from coming under its protection.

With a deadline of the end of December we still need to raise approx £75,000 in pledges. You can do your bit for Cornwall by visiting the CFF website, studying the content and making a commitment to fight this current injustice that affects all children born or raised in Cornwall.

Download A4 JPG version of the text here: http://www.cornishfightingfund.org/m...k-of-flyer.jpg