On St Piran’s Day, the leader of Cornwall Council sent a letter to Darren Jones MP (Minister for Intergovernmental Relations) seeking tick-boxes for Cornish nationality and proficiency in the Cornish language on the 2031 Census. In my view, the letter was a powerful cross-party statement. In addition to Cllr Leigh Frost (Liberal Democrat), the letter was co-signed by the leaders of all groups on the authority – Paul Ashton (Reform), Drew Creek (Green), Connor Donnithorne (Conservative), Kate Ewert (Labour), Rowland O’Connor (Cornish Independent and Non-Aligned), Adam Paynter (Independent) and myself (Mebyon Kernow).
A response has been received from the Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but it doesn’t say an awful lot. It noted that responses to the recent consultation on the census are presently being assessed and a “consultation update” will be available in early May while “comprehensive evaluation reports organised by topic” will be released in late summer 2026. It also stated that these reports “will share our recommendations on which topics should be considered for inclusion in Census 2031 and outline our plans for developing questions and content [and how] the consultation evidence influenced these decisions.”
I remain disappointed, once again, how the response from the ONS failed to address our collective representation that the Cornish should be treated in the same manner as other national minorities, namely the Scottish and Welsh. But they have stated there is the possibility of further discussions, and I am working with other democratically-elected representatives from Cornwall to demand meaningful engagement with the UK’s statistical authority.
I have also received a reply to a letter that I wrote to Lisa Nandy (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport) about the review into the BBC Royal Charter. Along with a range of people, I made representations in support of broadcasting in the Cornish language and specific public service broadcasting for Cornwall.
The response came from a member of her Ministerial Support Team. It repeated statements included in the recent consultation on the Charter about how public service broadcasting is a “vital British asset” that “reflects the diversity of the United Kingdom” and raises awareness of the “different cultures that make up its society.” It nonetheless dodged the request for a specific public service remit for Cornwall, while conceding there should be provision in indigenous and minority languages, though saying the provision of Cornish language broadcasting is a “matter for the BBC” which, in my opinion, needs to do more to support the language.
Given such less-than-helpful feedback, I will be making further representations in the coming days, and I hope others will as well.
Article published in the Cornish Guardian (22nd April 2026) and West Briton (23rd April 2026) newspapers