Cornwall

What next....Independence for the Isle of Wight??

I used to live in Cornwall a long time ago, [house even had a Cornish name] and at the time, there was a small groundswell of opinion amongst the locals [the born there locals] that there should be independence for Cornwall. The rest of us thought it laughable.Still do!

Just thinking about the cost of bringing this about makes me angry. As it seems to have been instigated by Europe could it be yet another way of weakening 'Great' Britain?

We live in Somerset yet our neighbour flies the Cornish flag. Very tempted to tear it down during the night well, I would if I could climb up his flag pole.

Democratic freedom for Devon, I say!!! It's laughable really, isn't it.
(But I do love Cornwall).

Cornish is, in every practical sense, a dead language - nobody speaks it as their mother-tongue. By all means study it, but I doubt it can, or should, be revived. I remember showing members of Mebyon Kernow around the Port of Par, and a pleasant lot they were - hardly campaigning types - although there was talk of reviving the Stannary Parliament at Lostwithiel.

The title 'Great' Britain is just to differentiate it from the other Britain, where they speak French and Breton. And the only people who are trying to weaken the UK are the Ukip MEPs who do nothing to further our interests. 'Traitors', if deluded ones, you might think.

UDI for the Isle of Dogs!

It may be dead but many people still learn it and speak it, the Cornish are very proud of their Celtic culture and heritage.
More interesting and important to me, living in cornwall is the fact that the average wage is below the average wage for the UK, Cornwall is in the bottom 5% of deprivation.

If this helps in any way to improve the lot of the residents then great.

Indeed, it has been a deprived area for a very long time.

Will they keep the £?

The average wage in Wales is also well below that of the UK generally.

Its minority status has done nothing to change that!

AKA, I already have a Cornish passport, we have a national anthem, I think we plan our own currency - the groat perhaps!!

MiL's maternal side is Cornish, we buried the last member of her family last year in Feock. Through them, after many years of holidaying down there, I came to see how the Cornish feel, the ones born there and whose families have always lived there. It's really a very similar feeling to that of the Welsh. I have always thought of them as a race apart - in the 'Are you proud to be' thread I wrote that if I had come from Cornwall, I would say that I was Cornish before I said that I was English. I can understand them - but think they are daft to want what they are about to do - unless it does help them financially.

DBH and I considered moving down there, but he was put off by a fellow male teacher who told him that a huge proportion of the children have no male role model, as all the men have either left or are unemployed. The ones who leave to find work often never return, leaving their families behind.

I've never noticed any lack of Cornish 'culture' during the nearly forty years I have lived here. There's lots of music, the flag, St Piran's Day celebrations, pasties, May Day in Padstow, Helston Flora Day etc. etc. I can't see that minority status is needed at all. It will probably just encourage more extremist views.

I'm very proud of my Iceni heritage. And Incomers need at least five years before they can understand Broad Norfolk. Norfolk should be next. (Well, perhaps after Northumberland, their language is impossible to comprehend!)

It's all getting out of hand really.Cornwall has no more traditions or culture than any other county, and only a handful of enthusiasts can speak Cornish as it died out by the mid 19th century.Yorkshire or Norfolk or anywhere can claim history, often far more interesting than in Cornwall.Are we going to be a really inward looking Nation in the future, maybe going back to tribes perhaps?

Good luck Cornwall. Roll on the day The People's Republic of Tottenham is recognised. Flag - a blue fighting cock on a white background. Anthem - Come on you Spurs!

I believe Janerowena was misinformed by her teacher friend. Living in Cornwall I have been very surprised by how strong the family units are here. There are far fewer families here without dads than I have come across living elsewhere in the UK. Working or not all appear to be fully involved in bringing up their children. In fact it seems that my family is the only one without a male role model and we aren't Cornish.

I think it's wonderful. I'm not Cornish and have no links to Cornwall as far as I know but I think what they've achieved is just great. And isn't the language akin to Breton?

And yes when I was at school theremwas talk of independence for the Isle of Wight but I don't think the rest of the country need worry on that score - at least for the time being

I sincerely thought that this was a belated April Fool's joke and agree with rubysong regarding extremism.

Just how much do we want to be divided?

All this micro-separation troubles me.

Divide and Rule

I spent 25 years living in Cornwall and my son was born there. I think it's wonderful! I knew many people who supported independence for Cornwall, some of them were deranged but some of them weren't.
Cornwall has more history than anywhere else I have lived and plenty of culture thank you. And Cornish clotted cream is far better than Devonshire.

I do not think Cornwall has more history, just different history.
However, as England is cpmpletely London-centric, I think all extremities should go for devolution or independence. Many misguided souls voted against it in Yorkshire, but may change their minds now.
The north east now has a supercouncil, encouraged by the government. They said they would give more finance to areas that linked local government, again another policy they did not think through properly.
If Scotland goes independent, then maybe Cornwall will follow, and proper Northumbria after that. We just need a bit of gentle encouragement.

One of my nieces lives in Cornwall and was married there in 2012. All the men wore Cornish Tartan!

Bloody ridiculous! And HOW much government money has been spent on it? (I think in excess of £120k)

if you want to speak what is an extremely minority language, that can be of no possible use in either social or business situations, then do so at your own damn cost!

We are a pretty small player in terms of land size, and surely to deity, to sub divide would be of no benefit!

Now, bit of a warning, I don't often voice opinions on contentious matters, but here we go.......

durhamjen are you really and truly advocating some sort of home rule by county or to quote you "extremities"????

If so, I am (to quote the vernacular) gobsmacked! Please, tell me your argument to support this, I will be very interested to hear it, as my current stance is that I've never heard such a load of gonads in my life, but I am always prepared to listen.

Dogsdinner, that's lovely to hear, I thought, how sad it was.

Yes, they are so far from London. In London people with weekend cottages in pretty villages in Surrey think they understand the country. They haven't a clue.

I live in a prosperous village on the Suffolk/Norfolk border. We saw a very pretty-looking church spire a few miles into Norfolk and thought we would explore the village - we were shocked by how run-down it was. Coastal Norfolk is very wealthy, like Cornwall, but inland it's a different story.

It is actually home rule for London at the moment.
Just look at HS2. They say it will be good for the North, but not for the North East. It's going up to Leeds. Then we have to change trains. It might save us half an hour but cause a lot more inconvenience. Like someone said on the radio yesterday, we'd believe them more if these things ran from the North to the South.
The North East north of Morpeth does not even have a dual carriageway on the A1, let alone an A1M. The first A road in the country, and it's not even dual carriage between Newcastle and Edinburgh.
Norfolk doesn't have a motorway anywhere.
I know of someone who translated the bible into Cornish.
£120,000+ spent on it? You begrudge them less than £1 per head of their own money, Phoenix?