Philip Hosking (Cornwall, The Cornish Democrat): You may have noticed the recent Scotsman article on the new citizenship test that people wishing to gain UK citizenship must take. Designed to improve integration and assimilation of new immigrants it purports to be a sort of cultural primer – a test based on knowledge of the officially sanctioned book "Life in the UK: A Journey to Citizenship". This book is a fascinating insight into how New Labour imagines life in our country today. And what it leaves out is as significant as what it puts in.
The results from the 2001 UK population census show over 37,000 people hold a Cornish identity instead of English or British. On this census, to claim to be Cornish, you had to deny being British, by crossing out the British option and then writing Cornish in the "others" box. This does not represent a mere clerical error or poorly thought through wording. This represents a denial of the right of the Cornish to describe themselves in terms of their identity. It might seem trite to complain about something that happened six years ago. But the 2001 census will remain relevant until the next one (in 2011). Life in the UK quotes the census heavily when describing the regions and ethnic diversity of the UK. The Cornish are not mentioned once.
The Cornish are a Celtic ethnic group and nation of the southwest of Great Britain. We have our own lesser used Celtic language, sports, festivals, cuisine, music, dance, history and identity. Cornwall also has a distinct constitutional history as a Duchy with an autonomous Stannary Parliament. This Celtic Cornish identity was recognised and described in the April 2006 edition of National Geographic.
Cornwall Council's Feb 2003 MORI Poll showed 55% in favour of a democratically-elected, fully-devolved regional assembly for Cornwall, (this was an increase from 46% in favour in a 2002 poll). The Cornish Assembly petition was signed by 50,000 people, which is the largest expression of popular support for devolved power in the whole of the United Kingdom and possibly Europe.
How many more people would have described themselves as Cornish if they did not have to deny being British or if there had been a Cornish tick box? How many people knew that writing 'Cornish' in the "Other" box was an option? (this was extremely poorly publicised). How many ticked British but feel themselves to be Cornish British? This officially sanctioned silence on the existence of a Cornish identity must stop.
