WILL CORNISH BE INCLUDED IN THE BROADCASTING BILL?

In a recent article in the Cornish Guardian, I wrote about the UK Government’s “blindspot” when it comes to regional / minority languages and Cornish. It was as follows:

The eighth anniversary of the recognition of the Cornish through the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has just passed. To mark the occasion, the unitary authority issued a positive press release about all the work being done to protect and promote the unique culture and distinctive language of Cornwall, reminding one and all that the UK Government had pledged the Cornish would have the “same status” as “the UK’s other Celtic people: the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.”

But sadly, we cannot forget that the UK Government is failing to meet its obligations to the Convention in so many ways. Westminster denied the Cornish a tick-box on the 2021 census and, when it agreed the process for setting boundaries for future parliamentary seats, refused to protect the territoriality of Cornwall in law. Cornwall has not secured a meaningful devolution settlement in line with the other Celtic nations, and is not represented on the British and Irish Council.

I am in the fortunate position of being the Chairman of Cornwall Council’s working group on national minority status and, a short time ago, I hosted an engagement forum with interested members of the general public.

We were addressed by Denzil Monk, a film maker and a lecturer in film at the School of Film and Television at Falmouth University. He spoke about the campaign for public service broadcasting in and for Cornwall, which has the full support of the unitary authority. At the forum, there was a discussion about ongoing representations to the BBC about how their commitment in the 2016 BBC Charter to “regional and minority languages of the United Kingdom” ridiculously does not extend to Cornish. The document restricted its definition of such languages to “Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Ulster Scots.”

By coincidence, the UK Government published its latest White Paper on the following day. It was titled: “Up Next: The Government’s vision for the broadcasting sector.”

Disappointingly, the document is silent on the request for public service broadcasting for Cornwall while, in the section on regional and minority languages, the Cornish language is ignored. The languages mentioned in the document are again Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Ulster Scots.

This is so unsatisfactory, but the White Paper does present an opportunity. The Government now says that the “importance of programmes broadcast in the UK’s indigenous regional and minority languages” will be made “clear in legislation.”

Cornwall’s MPs will therefore be able to make representations to the Minister and the wider UK Government to ensure that any future provision for regional and minority languages also includes Cornish. I have already written to them and asked then to do exactly that.