RE: The Cornish Language
Great post lightwinds!
We must keep the Cornish language alive along with Cornwall's unique culture & identity. It appears that the 2011 will not have a 'Cornish' tick-box or a Cornish language tick-box.
An article from the latest Cornish World magazine by Dr Nigel Hicks:
Censuses in the UK are held every 10 years and provide essential information from national to neighbourhood level for government, business and the community.
I suspect most people will be aware that Cornish citizens were permitted to identify themselves as "Cornish in the last UK population census in 2001. The decision to include a Cornish write-in option was taken following a prolonged campaign by individuals, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and public authorities as it could provide useful information regarding the status of the Cornish national minority in the United Kingdom.
One should be mindful of the facts that the decision to collect information, in 2001, on Cornish ethnicity was not publicised and that the authorities gave little information and guidance about the terminology employed in the exercise. Furthermore, those people writing to assert a Cornish ethnicity could only have done so if they denied being British, by ignoring the British option and writing Cornish in a write-in "other tick-box. It is no wonder then that the results of this census were not as accurate as they might otherwise have been had the census been properly constructed and worded in the first place.
We all know that write-ins and responses to general items in tick-boxes fail to elicit anything like the total numbers of people who would respond to a specifically worded question. It is vital therefore, that subsequent censuses include a dedicated Cornish tick-box so that accurate statistics can be collected.
It would appear that there are no plans to correct this deficiency. Moreover, the Office for National Statistics does not intend to include a Cornish language question in the next census which is somewhat surprising, in view of the fact that the British government is under a legal obligation to the Council of Europe to take resolute action to protect and promote it. It is difficult to envisage how public authorities will be able to fulfil both this legal responsibility under international treaty and their moral duty to the Cornish people, without such a question in the next and subsequent censuses.
The official ONS excuse for these omissions is that there has been insufficient " user demand for this information. This is a meaningless, unquantifiable response and it has been made even though the two most significant users of Cornish related census information, Cornwall Council and the Government Office for the South West, have both requested a dedicated Cornish tick-box and a specific Cornish language question on the forthcoming Census 2001.
If the Cornish people are to develop their culture, if they are to perform as well as other groups and if the Cornish language is to flourish and to live up to its status as an official language of the United Kingdom, it is essential that the relevant public authorities can obtain accurate statistical information. Only then will we be sure that services are being provided equitably.
Time is running out but it is not too late to change the ONS's position in regard to these matters. Please address your demands for a dedicated "Cornish tick-box and a specific Cornish language question in the 2011 and subsequent censuses by sending me a PM or email for the contact details.
EDITED to remove street and email addresses.