MEMBERS and supporters of Mebyon Kernow gathered in Truro on Saturday, November 1, for the Party for Cornwall’s National Conference.

The event took place at New County Hall/ Lys Kernow with items for discussion will including the push for meaningful devolution for Cornwall, and the need to tackle the crisis in Cornwall’s planning system.

In his keynote address, party leader Cllr Dick Cole called on the leaders of the London-based political parties to back the call from their Cornish councillors for greater powers for Cornwall.

He told the conference he was proud to have moved a cross-party motion on Cornwall Council, demanding a devolution settlement that properly reflects Cornwall’s national identity and the national minority status of the Cornish.

“In addition to Mebyon Kernow’s team, the motion was supported by all councillors from the Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat groups, and all independent councillors bar one,” he said.

“That is quite something – it has been hard work and a long time coming … But our greatest challenge is not to build consensus within Cornwall. It is to get those in power in Westminster to act on what Cornwall is saying is right for our future.

“I have a key challenge to that political establishment: when will the party leaders in London back Cornwall’s aspirations?”

Cllr Cole praised Cornwall Council’s Liberal Democrat leader Leigh Frost, saying: “He is pushing the fifth-nation campaign with great enthusiasm, but his efforts will be weakened if the whole apparatus of the Liberal Democrats does not throw its weight behind the campaign.” He called for party leader Sir Ed Davey to endorse the fifth-nation call “without equivocation”.

Cllr Cole also expressed disappointment that Kemi Badenoch of the Conservatives was silent on this matter, and said he was “disturbed” at how Labour ministers are failing to deliver on their obligations to Cornwall.

He declared prime minister Keir Starmer’s attitude to Cornish rights “contradictory”, adding: “On our national saint’s day, in response to a question from Perran Moon MP, Keir Starmer wished everyone in Cornwall a very happy St Piran’s Day. He went on to say: ‘We do recognise Cornish national minority status, not just the proud language, the history and the culture of Cornwall, but its bright future …’

“But this September, only six months later, when he was interviewed by ITV, he said: ‘Look, I don't think that we need a nation status for Cornwall’.

“Prime Minister: Cornwall is a nation and the Cornish national minority exists. You have stated that you recognise our status. Cornish nationhood and national minority status go together. They are inextricably linked. In any meaningful way, you cannot have one without the other. In reality, they are the same thing.”

He added: “National minority status is not just about culture and language; it is also about public life, it is about territory, it is about politics and it is about governance.”

Mebyon Kernow members at the conference committed themselves to continuing to campaign for meaningful devolution and a bespoke Cornish Devolution Bill.