Today I received a reply to a couple of questions I asked of the BBC which are:
1 Given that the Cornish have had official recognition for the last eight years as a national minority officially recognising our history,culture,identity and language, why does the BBC on both television and radio refer to Cornwall using the words county or southwest England when to some Cornish people references to county or England are offensive. Can the BBC not use Duchy or just use Cornwall and not use the word county?
2 BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast the excellent Tongue and Talk:The Dialect Poets about Cornwall. This programme discussed Cornish identity and culture from a Cornish point of view but what else is the BBC doing to promote Cornish language and identity?
The answer from the BBC was as expected distinctly underwhelming .
Thank you for contacting the BBC.
Whilst we appreciate your concerns, as you have not provided specific editorial examples to illustrate this I can only answer generally to the point you have raised.
We appreciate the description of Cornwall is a matter many are passionate about, but would state that The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate owning 7,552 hectares of land in Cornwall. Cornwall is an administrative county of England, with Cornwall Council describing itself as the unitary authority for the county of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Cornwall’s Chamber of Commerce also recognise Cornwall as a county:
We reported at the time when Cornish people were granted minority status under European rules for the protection of national minorities, which means that Cornish people will be afforded the same protections as the Welsh, Scottish and the Irish; with government departments and public bodies required to take Cornwall’s views into account when making decisions:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-27132035
Nevertheless, we recognise your perspective about this.
Rest assured that all complaints are sent to senior management and we’ve included your points in our overnight report, which is among the most widely read sources of feedback in the company and ensures that your concerns have been seen by the right people quickly.
Thanks again for getting in touch.
Kind regards,
Lucy Currie
BBC Complaints Team
So in the finest traditions of the BBC a cut and paste reply with a general undertone of go away you silly person you can call yourself what you like in Cornwall but to the rest of the country you are a county and a part of England and nothing will change that.
Is that really acceptable after eight years of in theory recognition of our identity?
I will be writing back to the BBC but this time in Kernewek so let’s see how long it takes them to translate it and send another cut and paste response telling me we are just a county of England.
KernowCalling 