MY LETTER TO CHLOE SMITH

The “Order” for the 2021 Census will be debated in Parliament on Wednesday 6th May. It does not include a Cornish tick-box, and the UK Government appears intent, at this difficult time, to push through the order without proper consideration of Cornwall’s needs.

On the sixth anniversary of the Cornish being recognised as a national minority and as Chairman of Cornwall Council’s National Minority Status Working Group, I sent the following letter to the Minister Chloe Smith.

In the next couple of days, please also lobby MPs and Ministers to do the right thing by the Cornish national minority.

Dear Minister

THE 2021 CENSUS AND THE CORNISH NATIONAL MINORITY

At this time of global emergency, I appreciate that it is essential that the unrelenting priority for government and public services must be to combat coronavirus and to do everything possible to save lives and safeguard our local communities.

At this difficult time, we understand that there is a willingness from parliamentarians for the House of Commons to, for a short period, operate as a hybrid (part virtual) parliament. We are also aware that the proposed details for the 2021 census will soon be considered by MPs.

Councillors from all political groups on the Cornish unitary authority have been campaigning for a Cornish tick-box for many years. Indeed, there was near unanimous support from elected members for a motion backing a tick-box in January 2019. We are therefore very disappointed that the present draft of the 2021 (England and Wales) census only includes national identity tick-boxes for English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh.

The leader of Cornwall Council, Julian German, and the authority’s group leaders - Linda Taylor (Conservative), Malcolm Brown (Liberal Democrat), Carolyn Rule (Independent), Stephen Barnes (Labour) and myself (Mebyon Kernow) – have collectively sent a letter to you requesting that you deliver a Cornish tick-box.

In this letter, I am writing you as the Chairman of Cornwall Council’s working group on national minority status, which also includes representatives of all political groups on the authority.

The UK Government needs to treat all national minorities in the same equal manner

Today marks the sixth anniversary of the recognition of the Cornish as a national minority through the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, when the UK Government pledged that the Cornish would be afforded “the same status … as the UK’s other Celtic people, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.”

As noted previously, it is extremely disappointing that the Cornish are the only UK national minority which would be denied a tick-box if the present draft of the 2021 (England and Wales) Census was to be agreed. We consider this to be illogical and we fear that ministers have a significant blindspot when it comes to the national identity of the Cornish, who are not being treated in the same manner as “the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.”

It is our view that the 2021 Census offers the UK Government an opportunity to meet its obligations through the Framework Convention and demonstrate a positive commitment to Cornwall’s national identity and culture.

No tick-box will result in a significant under-count

The ONS and UK Government have stated that they fully recognise the “need of the Cornish community for data on the socio-economic, educational, health and housing conditions of those who identify as Cornish.” But in failing to support the inclusion of a Cornish tick-box on the 2021 Census, they undermine their stated commitment to “those who identify as Cornish.

In your most recent letter to Cllr German, dated 16th April, you gave a pledge to widely promote the opportunity for individuals to “write-in” Cornish as their national identity. It remains our view that this is not adequate and that it is necessary that all data on national minorities is collected in a consistent manner. If this is not done, it would undermine comparisons between the Cornish and other national groups.

We would point out that in the 2001 Census, when there was no Welsh tick-box, 14% of Welsh residents “wrote-in” Welsh. In 2011, when there was a tick-box, the percentage of people who recorded themselves as Welsh went up to 67% - a more than four-fold increase. It is clear that when there is not a tick-box, there is inevitably a significant under-count of a national minority.

By contrast, in 2011, 14% of Cornish residents “wrote-in” Cornish, which was clearly not a full representation of the Cornish national minority in Cornwall. A tick-box is clearly needed to ensure a sound count as will happen in Wales. This is something that can and should be addressed with the 2021 census.

Not a “local” issue

In your letter to Julian German, you said that the case for a Cornish tickbox was not strong enough because the need was “localised.” The letter stated that “the ONS did not receive any requests for this information from any national organisations outside of Cornwall … this is in contrast to the decision to include a Welsh national identity tick-box in the 2011 Census, where there was evidence of wider user need.”

We must challenge this statement. We have requested information from the ONS about which “national organisations” outside of Wales requested a Welsh tick-box, but no details have been forthcoming. In addition, we would note that the footnote in the letter links to a governmental paper “The 2011 Census: Assessment of initial user requirements on content for England and Wales – ethnicity, identity, language and religion” and point out that, in terms of the Welsh experience, it refers only to the National Assembly of Wales and other organisations / groups from within Wales.

It seems to us that requests for a Welsh tick-box in 2011 were led by the National Assembly (Wales’ principal democratic institution) just as calls for a Cornish tick-box for 2021 have been led by Cornwall Council (Cornwall’s principal democratic institution). Surely both national minorities and their democratic bodies should be treated the same. In addition, the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Leadership Board (also comprising MPs, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the business sector) fully backs the push for a Cornish tick-box.

Again, taking the Welsh tick-box as an example, we agree that it is important that Welsh people living outside of Wales are recorded appropriately within the statistics. There is a large Cornish diaspora outside of Cornwall and it is equally important that these individuals also have recourse to a tick-box.

In the 2011 Census, 16.9% of people who identified as Welsh were resident outside of Wales, while 12.3% of people who identified as Cornish were resident outside of Cornwall. However, Cornish people not living in Cornwall in 2011 would have been less likely to have seen the publicity materials promoting the “write-in” option and remain significantly under-recorded.

No precedent for additional tick-boxes

We would add that the delivery of a Cornish tick-box should not lead to any calls for additional tick-boxes. It would simply ensure that all national minorities within the United Kingdom, recognised through the Framework Convention, would be treated with parity. And there is space … In meetings with the ONS, we have even made the point that there is adequate space to include a Cornish tick-box and this would not lead to any “knock-on” impacts for the remainder of the document. Officers at the unitary authority have even compared the slightly different lay-outs in the draft England/Wales and Northern Ireland documents, and they would be willing to discuss this further with you.

Delivering for Cornwall

Conservative MPs regularly show support for Cornwall’s national identity and culture. Some of them have taken their oaths in Cornish, just as other MPs have taken their oaths in different Celtic languages. This year, in the lead-up to St Piran’s Day (Cornwall’s national saint’s day), in a response to a question from Steve Double MP, the Prime Minister spoke some Cornish in the House of Commons. I understand he said “Kernow bys vykken” – Cornwall forever. This is obviously to be welcomed, but it is our view that the UK Government really does need to do more and deliver something tangible against its obligations in the Framework Convention. Please support our request for a Cornish tick-box.