Cornish Assembly

Devon's relative wealth overshadowed Cornwall's low GDP and high deprivation, meaning that the single "Devonwall" area did not qualify for EU funding.

In 1990, a Guardian newspaper editorial commented “Smaller minorities also have equally proud visions of themselves as irreducibly Welsh, Irish, Manx or Cornish.

[citation needed] The same year, the then leader of Cornwall County Council David Whalley stated "There is something inevitable about the journey to a Cornish Assembly.

We are also moving forward in creating a Cornish Development Agency - we are confident that strategic planning powers will come back to us after the SW regional assembly goes."

Leaders at the time claimed that the unitary would provide a "single voice" for Cornwall to demand greater powers, and be a "stepping stone" to a Cornish Assembly.

[citation needed] In 2011 Bert Biscoe, of the Cornish Constitutional Convention, commissioned a researcher to visit Guernsey as part of the devolution campaign, to meet politicians and lawmakers and see if the island's system of government could be of inspiration to Cornwall.

In 2014 the government announced plans to place Cornish EU funds into a nationally run programme, depriving Cornwall of its ability to allocate where the money goes.

"[18] Earlier in the year, the Liberal Democrats voted to make a Cornish Assembly party policy at their annual conference in York, although their ideas have been criticised by Mebyon Kernow as "nothing more than local government reform".

[7] The Liberal Democrats announced that a Cornish Assembly would be in their manifesto for the 2015 general election, proposing a "Devolution Enabling Act" that would give Cornwall the chance to take law-making powers from Westminster.

"[19] In March 2015, visiting Cornwall on St Piran's Day, Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg elaborated on his party's plans, saying "Cornwall could choose to have different rules to England on a whole range of policy areas like academy schools, health service spending, right-to-buy, second home ownership and bus services.

[21] In January 2015 Labour's Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls pledged greater "flexibility" in local decision making during a visit to Cornwall.

[23] Council leader John Pollard stated that following initial discussions, a "more detailed document" would be submitted to the government following the 2015 election.

According to the council's transport portfolio holder, Bert Biscoe, the deal gives him far more control over buses, strengthening his ability to ensure that routes run in rural areas - which private bus companies might find uncommercial.

[29] In February 2012, Eden Project founder Tim Smit added his support for a Cornish Assembly in an interview with BBC Spotlight.

He hoped that greater devolution of powers and control of finances to Cornwall would aid in the development of green and other innovative technologies by Cornish companies.

[33] In 2014 Mebyon Kernow's online poll petitioning The UK Prime Minister and Cabinet to "Create a Cornish Assembly" achieved 2,667 supporters.

The exchequer hall of the Duchy Palace in Lostwithiel , site of the autonomous Cornish stannary courts and then-capital of Cornwall (the tinners parliament was last held in the Hall in 1751)
In 2001, 50,000 signed declarations calling for a Cornish Assembly were presented to 10 Downing Street - over 10% of Cornwall's electorate.
The Cornish Constitutional Convention has held up the Channel Island of Guernsey as a potential model for Cornish autonomy. [ 16 ] (Guernsey Parliament building pictured)