I wrote to all of our Cornish MPs five weeks ago to ask whether it was right that Visit England made no references on its site to Cornish language and culture.

Steve Double has just sent a reply, and while I am grateful for his reply, I totally disagree with his answer.

Thank you for your email and I do appreciate you taking the time to get in touch.

I have now had an opportunity to check the Visit Britain website, and specifically the subsections of the devolved nations to see if they are treated any differently to Cornwall’s.

Having done so I cannot see any particular references to the culture and heritage of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on these pages. The only difference I can see is that they have their own pages, which are immediately navigable and evident from the front page of the website, whereas Cornwall, which is not a devolved nation, does not, and is instead included as part of the England offer.

Therefore I cannot push for Cornwall and the Cornish people to get different treatment to other places which also have minority status, particularly on a website whose primary goal is purely to attract visitors.

That being said I will continue to do all I can to ensure the protected ethnic minority status of Cornish people is recognised and acted upon by the UK Government and others.

Thanks once again for getting in touch.

Kind regards,

Steve

I disagree with Mr Double on two points.

1 The site Steve Double was looking at is Visit Britain not Visit England. Visit Britain has separate sections for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it would be safe to assume that most people would recognise that they are separate to England and have their own history and culture, they also list cultural events.  To be fair Visit Britain does mention Cornish culture by stating,

Did you know? Truro is the only city in Cornwall. It hosts a great line-up of events year-round – don’t miss the St Pirans Day parade on March 5, which celebrates Cornish culture.

Which is not quite correct as St Piran’s day is just a bit more than a celebration of Cornish culture and omits that the celebrations are across the Duchy.

2 Steve Double states  Therefore I cannot push for Cornwall and the Cornish people to get different treatment to other places which also have minority status, particularly on a website whose primary goal is purely to attract visitors.

Given that the other parts of the UK that have minority status are given their own sections then the Cornish are being treated differently, minority status is supposed to give the Cornish equality with the Scots, Welsh and Irish. The claim that he cannot push for the Cornish to get different treatment on a website whose primary goal is purely to attract visitors is palpable nonsense. What reason is there that visitors to the Duchy should not be told that Kernow has its own language and culture? And if it is anyone’s duty to point this out then it would seem most likely that it should be carried out by a tourist information site. Has Mr Double actually read the framework convention particularly Article 4 of the framework convention states

The Parties undertake to adopt, where necessary, adequate measures in order to promote, in all areas of economic, social, political and cultural life, full and effective equality between persons belonging to a national minority and those belonging to the majority. In this respect, they shall take due account of the specific conditions of the persons belonging to national minorities.

Or what about Article 5 ?

The Parties undertake to promote the conditions necessary for persons belonging to national minorities to maintain and develop their culture, and to preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion,language, traditions and cultural heritage.

It could be argued that Visit England’s policy of ignoring Cornish language and culture to promote Cornwall as just a part of England is a form of assimilation. Article 5 of of the framework convention for the protection of national minorities states.

Without prejudice to measures taken in pursuance of their general integration policy,the Parties shall refrain from policies or practices aimed at assimilation of persons belonging to national minorities against their will and shall protect these persons from any action aimed at such assimilation.

At least we can sleep more soundly knowing that Steve Double is doing all he can to ensure the protected ethnic minority status of Cornish people is recognised and acted upon by the UK Government and others.

And maybe one day he might even put it into practice.

Thank you for taking the time to contact me and for bringing this matter to my attention, I really do appreciate it.

I certainly think you raise an interesting point and I see no reason as to why this information could not be added to the Visit England website. After all, the Cornish language and culture are what makes the county, along with its stunning locations.

I have now taken the time to write to Visit England to further raise your points. I will of course be in touch as soon as I have had a reply.

Below is an email I sent to all of the Cornish MPs.

I am writing to ask for your view about Visit England.

Visit England/Britain are the national tourism agency and a first reference point for many visitors. Their promotion of Cornwall makes much of our coastline and countryside but makes no mention of the Cornish language, culture or history.

National minority means that the Cornish have a right to express, preserve,
share and develop our distinct culture and identity.

The Cornish were recognised as a national minority in 2014.

It’s over half a decade since minority status was officially recognised, for the national tourism agency to ignore this seems wrong and also ignores the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities that affords the Cornish the same status as the UK’s other Celtic people, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish, but more than that it’s also doing visitors a great disservice by not giving them a fuller picture of the Duchy.

The success in many parts of the world of television programmes and films set in Cornwall have given Cornwall a known identity so greater recognition of Cornish culture and history by Visit England could bring more overseas
visitors who would realise the Duchy has something more to offer.

I have emailed Visit England to ask about minority status and representation of the Cornish but all they could tell me was that they did not have any statistics so could not answer the question.

I do not believe that it would be very difficult for Visit England to add a few lines or a paragraph on their Cornwall section to mention Cornish culture and identity.

If you can tell me your view on this subject it would be most appreciated and if you agree to post your response on our site.

Thank you for your time.

The first response within a couple of hours was from Derek Thomas MP for West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Thank you. I agree. It would seem basic practice to promote all positive aspects of a visitor destination and our language, culture and heritage is certainly part of the attraction for visitors ‘in the know’.
The sensible route would be to ask Visit Cornwall to provide Visit England with the information we would want on their site. The potential positive outcome is that we would see an increased number of visitors in the shoulder months and in winter who prefer a quieter experience to explore this asset of ours. This would certainly have the support of Visit Cornwall members.
Let me know if there is something further I can do to help!

Kind regards,
Derek Thomas MPFor West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (St Ives)

The next was again within a few hours from Scott Mann MP for North Cornwall.

Scott has just discussed the contents of your email with me and he mentioned that the idea of a Cornish Heritage as part of a devolution deal was raised previously by George Eustice MP. If Cornwall wants this to happen it would need to be driven by Cornwall Council as part of their next devolution ask.

I would urge you to go through Cornwall Council to see if this can be taken forward.

Kind regards,
Rachel

Rachel Beadle
Office Manager
Office of Scott Mann MP (North Cornwall)

The email from Scott Mann is particularly interesting as it raises the idea of Cornish Heritage but a look on devolution and Cornish Heritage on the Cornwall Council website only states

The final area of agreement is heritage and culture. The Government have pledged support for the creation of a Cornish Heritage Environment Forum.

A Cornish Heritage Environment Forum.. That is certainly ambiguous.

But this and Visit England will be raised hopefully this week with a discussion with a representative from Cornwall Council. I will be writing more about this in the coming days as I get more information.