Agreement on a written form of Cornish

Originally Posted by Westcountryman:
Not so sure, given how few people can read them.

That is up to the people.

Originally Posted by :
Which I'm not convinced is a good thing.

But you are not Cornish so it not surprising, I don't feel very French myself and wouldn't even if Ilived there. The Cornish people generally feel such a seperateness and identity.

[Rep]

Originally Posted by BonnieDundee:
That is up to the people.

What's the point when hardly anyone can read them? What a waste of public money.

Originally Posted by BonnieDundee:
But you are not Cornish so it not surprising, I don't feel very French myself and wouldn't even if Ilived there. The Cornish people generally feel such a seperateness and identity.

Very few actually advocate any kind of separation - which is a pipe dream at best.

You're still trying to argue that Cornwall is somehow distinct from the rest of England - I'm not convinced that it is. There's nothing radically different in Cornwall than say, Devon.

[Rep]

Originally Posted by Westcountryman:
What's the point when hardly anyone can read them? What a waste of public money.

Because it encourages our identity and the people want it. It wouldn't cost too much if you just replaced those signs which need replacing with two languages.

Originally Posted by :
Very few actually advocate any kind of separation - which is a pipe dream at best.

Actually autonomy and a seperate identity are extremely popular. An educated guess would put them as the majority position. And autonomy is certainly not a pipe dream, look at the channel islands or the Isle of Man.

Originally Posted by :
You're still trying to argue that Cornwall is somehow distinct from the rest of England - I'm not convinced that it is. There's nothing radically different in Cornwall than say, Devon.

Yes, but the people do feel this way. You are an outsider who is trying to argue we are part of England, it seems like as an Englishmen you don't want us to seperate despite the general wish for more autonomy and belief in our seperate identity. Remember a majority don't even consider themselves English over Cornish.

Cornwall it is true does not have quite the identity nor certainly the history of Scotland or even Wales but it certainly has alot more seperate identity than most other counties/duchies. But most important is simply what the people want and autonomy is a good thing as is a seperate identity and it need not destroy the union. In fact it would be could if this kind of autonomy happened throughtout the UK.

To be honest I can't understand your objections except that they come from emotional English or British nationalism which indentifies your greatness with your country and your country with its size and power. This is the general gist of what people like Cassie and people like those COSG forums believe and it is rather meaningless and certainly if they aren't even Cornish.

[Rep]

Originally Posted by Westcountryman:
What's the point when hardly anyone can read them? What a waste of public money.

This is yet another dishonestly promoted issue! It's akin to the nonsense about "Should religion be taught in schools?"

In reality, both Cornish and religion can be taught in schools! The promoters of these subjects really mean "should they be taught in publicly funded schools?" In other words, it's a covert way of seeking to divert taxpayer's money to minority interests.

You want it? You pay for it, is my approach here! :-)

Originally Posted by Westcountryman:
Very few actually advocate any kind of separation - which is a pipe dream at best.

You're still trying to argue that Cornwall is somehow distinct from the rest of England - I'm not convinced that it is. There's nothing radically different in Cornwall than say, Devon.

We've yet to discover who these 'Cornish' individuals are and what makes them so special that they should have favourable treatment over and above English people living elsewhere in England. One might just as well say that Yorkshire should have autonomy etc etc.

Enemies of England remaining a nation, an entity, in its own right are always popping up and making such unwanted suggestions. Enemies of self determination in England would continue to deny the English any opportunity to determine such issues themselves.

---------------------------

[Rep]

The way I see it, if Cornwall wants local autonomy then they must wait until after English independence. To demand it now just plays into the hands of those who want England dismembered.

[Rep]

Originally Posted by Northumbrian:
The way I see it, if Cornwall wants local autonomy then they must wait until after English independence. To demand it now just plays into the hands of those who want England dismembered.

What about the Isles of Scilly? If Cornwall is granted autonomy then they'll want to be separated from Cornwall.

I'm curious to know if BonnieDundee would support such a thing, or if he believes they are possessions of Cornwall.

It's a slippery slope - if you give Cornwall autonomy then you're going to get every other County in the UK wanting the same thing. This is why I would favour granting greater powers to County Councils rather than new bodies - otherwise you're risking breaking up England.

[Rep]

It's all about common sense really.

As the son of a Cornishman (many of my close family still live in Cornwall and the ones that left for work often return in later life) I'm aware the people and the region has a strong sense of identity far more than counties such as Bedfordshire, Dorset, even Yorkshire - Cornwall being represented not by St. George but St. Piran, plus 'his' Cross forming the Cornish flag. I have even sung the Cornish 'National Anthem' before, and many of the genuine Cornish residents often refer to the land across Plymouth Bay or on the other side of the Tamar as 'England' - so the region is steeped in difference to England.

I am not in the habit of crushing small minorities so I support these moves, especially in an age of homogenisation and globalism, however there are balances.

A Cornish 'Parliament' would be nigh on impractical, more so than Wales. However, a Cornish 'Assembly-lite', basically a bumped up County Council would give the area it's bit of devolution from England without being silly or adding another layer of government on. This would have full-time politicans elected across the region and the Assembly would have additional powers mainly in the cultural fields.

As for bi-lingual signs or public spending on the language, plus having institutions such as 'Cornish Heritage' rather then 'English heritage', their Conrish Language Channel etc - let Cornwall have it, but let them receive the same funding as everyone else or let Cornish people fund it.

[Rep]

Originally Posted by Westcountryman:
It's a slippery slope - if you give Cornwall autonomy then you're going to get every other County in the UK wanting the same thing. This is why I would favour granting greater powers to County Councils rather than new bodies - otherwise you're risking breaking up England.

Isn't that a bit of a contradiction? You don't want counties to have autonomy, but you want them to have greater powers?

[Rep]