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Many will be aware either through involvement or by watching the 'Cornish scene' that there has been considerable pressure brought to bear on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to include a 'Cornish' tick box in the 2011 Census.
In pursuance of this, many letters have been written to the ONS direct and also to our elected representatives.
Further, members of the Cornish Branch of the Celtic League and other Cornish organisations and groups have attended all three ONS workshops, in Sheffield on 1st March, London on 9th March and the largest number(10 persons) in Cardiff on 16th March, 2007. At each and every workshop we have pressed the case for a Cornish tick box and have conveyed the feelings of many Cornish people who have either failed to complete the 2001 census or who wrote in 'Cornish' or who completed the census form in Kernewek. I have personally addressed Mr Ian Cope, the Director of Census for England &Wales in the Cardiff meeting having written him on countless occasions as have many others.
In Cardiff, along with members of the Kashmiri community who have also been excluded and who have similar points to ourselves, the Cornish case dominated the day long meeting. Our party were approached by many officials of the ONS in order to establish why the Cornish feel so strongly about their identity and the differences between ourselves and the people of Yorkshire who have a similar sense of place. They were appraised about our differences in a most direct manner and wetook the opportunity to present the Director of Census, Mr Ian Cope and also the Ethnicity & National Identity Officer of the ONS both with 'Our Future is History' by John Angarrack and with the 'Kernow Songs' DVD produced by FTI which conveys much of Cornwall's distinctive heritage and our fight for recognition. I believe they were taken aback at our strength of feeling.
The ONS presented a very confused mixture of ethnicity and national identity but base their definition of such on the House of Lords ruling of 1983 notably:
'An ethnic group has a distinct identity, based on recognising a long shared history and having distinct cultural traditions which may be related to one or more of the following characteristics:
- ancestry - geographical origin - nationality - country of birth - cultural traditions - religion - language'
Even those of our people who have a moderate view of the Cornish and our constitutional position cannot deny that the Cornish easily fulfil at least four of the above points and some would argue even more.
I and other Cornish people present argued each point and produced evidence to substantiate our case. We also pointed out that many feel that civil disobedience along similar lines to that seen in Wales a few years ago when thousands refused to complete the Census could not be ruled out although we much hoped that our wishes could be accommodated and that we hoped that the ONS would accordingly gain meaningful data in order to allow for proper funding and planning in the Duchy.
Some of our delegates spoke in fluent Kernewek to further drive home the point and we were well received by those Welsh people present who also spoke in Welsh which some of us could understand.
We were also shown samples of the 2011 census form in both H1 England and H2 Wales formats.
1. We have suggested that the removal of the word England from the H1 document would make the census more inclusive to many of our community who object to Cornwall being regarded as part of that country. Why is it needed - surely a form number would be quite adequate ?
2. Question 7 - the Country of birth only includes tick boxes for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and an elsewhere write in tick box. Although we asked for it, I feel that those who feel Cornwall/Kernow is a different country, will be obliged to write this in. I cannot see the ONS including Kernow/Cornwall despite our requests.
3. Question 12 - what do you consider your national identity to be only includes English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British, Irish and a write in section together with an invitation to tick all boxes that apply. There is no Cornish tick box. We argued continually to include our own tick box.
4. Question 13 - what is your ethnic group includes a white section with boxes for English, other British, Irish and a write in any other white background. H2 Wales Census includes a Welsh tick box. The question is replicated under Mixed, Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British and Other ethnic group sections this latter including boxes for Arab, Gypsy/Romany/Irish Traveller and a write in for any other. We argued continually for our own tick box.
5. Question 14 - what is your religion (a voluntary question) lumps all Christian religions and denominations together
6. Question 15 - what language can you understand, speak, read or write allows for varying levels of English and Welsh, British Sign Language and write in sections for other language. This would, in my opinion be an ideal opportunity to show that increasing numbers of us are now speaking and writing and reading Kernewek and the ONS are aware of this.
We were well received and it became patently obvious that the ONS had been in receipt of substantial correspondence in respect of Cornwall/Kernow.
Accordingly, please may I suggest that as many people as possible now contact the ONS on the following e-mail: ethnicity& identity [at] ... in order to provide substantial evidence that the Cornish people can comply with many of the points arising out of the House of Lords 1983 ruling and further that our language is covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, something the ONS are obliged to take cognizance of. Their 1983 guidelines are good points to evidence individually.
Further, representatives of the ONS are to visit Kernow/Cornwall on Friday 20th April, 2007 when they have a meeting planned with Malcolm Brown of Cornwall Council at 'County' Hall. This is in response to the demands of the Cornish. It was given to understand that part of this would be open to the public and so I would suggest that as many people as possible from all parts of our Cornish community make application to attend, including I hope those who are fluent in Kernewek and our elected representatives in order to drive home our requests. I have been dealing with the ONS on the following e-mail and have myself requested to attend the Truro 'meeting': census topics [at] ...
I was also told that the ONS would not rely on Sections 35-37 of the Freedom of Information Act to withhold any inter-departmental exchanges so freeing us to query the role of other Government and interested non Governmental bodies (eg. The Duchy) in any decision making process.
I so hope that many Cornish people from various groups together with our elected representatives many of whom have been very supportive in our demands can attend.
For those not on the internet or who prefer to write, the Office for National Statistics address is Segensworth Road, Titchfield, HAMPSHIRE, PO15 5RR.
Let us hope that we can have the ONS as a publicly funded body accommodate our demands thus removing the necessity for a campaign of civil disobedience along the lines of that in Wales.
(This report prepared for Celtic News by Mike Chappell - An Kesunyans Keltek - Scoren Kernewek - Celtic League Cornish Branch - Secretary)
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
18/03/07
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