I RECENTLY attended the Gorseth Kernow Conference 2015 held very successfully at the Cornwall Council Chamber in St Austell.

This extremely well attended gathering heard from the Grand Bard, senior Cornwall Councillors, many town councillors and Councillor John Pollard, leader of Cornwall Council and a bard himself. One of the speakers was Matt Barton, Cornwall Council senior policy development officer.

He highlighted the point that thanks to the Cornish being recognised as a National Minority in 2014, it is now a crime to racially abuse people who identify themselves as Cornish.

I can confirm that the police are taking these reports seriously. Many such crimes have already been reported and the offender dealt with in an appropriate manner.

Of the two matters that I know of, one was a highly offensive article written by a journalist in a newspaper – not one in Cornwall I might add! – and another was a Cornish lady in a shop being told to speak ‘proper English, not that inbred Cornish ****.’

In both cases, the police dealt with each incident very fully and to the complainant’s satisfaction. So, If you genuinely feel you are abused for being Cornish, please report it to the police.

The same applies for any form of racial abuse to any racial minority.

In Councillor Pollard’s keynote speech he pointed out that one didn’t have to be Cornish ‘born and bred’ to identify as Cornish. Many so called ‘incomers’ consider themselves Cornish. I have to agree with Councillor Pollard’s opinion. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you were born. If you love the great Nation of Kernow, then you are Cornish.

Our motto ‘Onen Hag Oll’ – ‘One and All’ really says it all.

Tony Leamon,
Kernow Matters NGO,
Acacia Road,
Falmouth