The Cornish Constitutional Convention (CCC; kw, Senedh Kernow) was formed in November 2000 with the objective of establishing a devolved

Cornish Assembly A Cornish Assembly ( kw, Senedh Kernow) is a proposed devolved law-making assembly for Cornwall along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and the Northern Ireland Assembly in the United Kingdom. The campaign fo ...

(Senedh Kernow). The convention is a cross-party, cross-sector association with support both in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

and elsewhere. It is not campaigning for any form of separatism or independence. The convention had been meeting for some time prior to November 2000 as an informal discussion group. In less than two years, it had attracted the signatures of "about 50,000" people on a petition calling for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly, which is a little over 10% of the total Cornish electorate. A delegation led by the St Ives

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Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) Andrew George and representatives of the convention, (Richard Ford, Dick Cole, David Fieldsend and

Andrew Climo Andrew Climo (born 1961) is a Cornwall-based, Cornish author and community activist. He is chief executive and founder of Community Leaders CIC, a community development agency, a Director of the Community Sector Coalition, a network for communit ...

) presented the declaration to

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

on Wednesday 12 December 2001.

Position

According to the 2001 petition, "We, the People of Cornwall, must have a greater say in how we are governed. We need a Cornish Assembly that can set the right democratic priorities for Cornwall and provide a stronger voice for our communities in Britain, in Europe and throughout the wider world." In this, the Cornish Constitutional Convention sits within the milieu of increased desire for greater autonomy by European regions. Given Cornwall's geographical peripherality, economic status, cultural and linguistic circumstances it is unsurprising that Cornwall has a devolutionary movement. Unlike the

Scottish Constitutional Convention The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of t ...

, which had the support of much of the political establishment of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

including formal membership of political parties, churches and civic groups, the CCC is more akin to the Scottish Convention's predecessor, the

Campaign for a Scottish Assembly The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of t ...

History

Formed in November 2000, the convention states that its key objectives are to: * Establish a devolved Assembly for Cornwall (Senedh Kernow) * Develop cross-party, cross-sector consensus * Establish a form of modern governance which strengthens Cornwall, her role in the affairs of the country * Positively address the problems that have arisen through growing isolation and loss of confidence. Among its publications are ''Devolution for One and All: Governance for Cornwall in the 21st Century'', ''The Case for Cornwall: Cornwall's response to the Government's Devolution White Paper'', ''Devolution for One and All: Cornwall Devolution for Prosperity'', and ''Devolution's Future: A New Proposal for Regional Devolution''.

References

External links

Senedh Kernow website

The Cornish Question: Devolution in the South-West Region

UK Politics: Devolving England
from

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{{Cornish self-government movement Politics of Cornwall Celtic nationalism Home rule in the United Kingdom Cornish nationalism Regionalism (politics) in the United Kingdom Cross-party campaigns