LAST week we celebrated Cornish Language Week with children from 30 schools across Cornwall coming together to showcase their learning at Lys Kernow. They performed songs, rhymes and stories in Kernewek and received awards for their language activity in school.

As cabinet member with responsibility for the Cornish language, I’m very proud of the efforts to keep Kernewek alive and of the new Cornish Language Strategy 2026-36 which is key to ensuring it not only survives, but it thrives.

Cornwall has something precious that very few places in the world can claim; a living language, rooted in the landscape, history and identity of this place. As the UK’s fifth nation, our language reflects our distinctiveness and we must cherish it.

This year, Go Cornish, the programme delivering Cornish language in primary schools means 6,000 young people will grow up knowing that Cornish is not a relic of the past.

More schools have signed up to join the programme while Cornwall Music Services Trust has created a film extending the reach of the programme well beyond the classroom. More teachers are being equipped with the knowledge to bring Cornish into their classrooms including nursery settings so children can encounter the language earlier.

All of this has been achieved within a modest budget, however, I was asked recently by a Reform councillor at committee whether public money should be spent on a language with only around 500 fluent speakers.

On the surface of it, you may think it’s a fair question but delve deeper and his assumption that the money received from government could be used elsewhere is the first mistake.

Devolution unlocked dedicated funding for promoting Cornish language and distinctiveness which cannot be spent on other things, and for good reason. After receiving dedicated funding from government, Welsh language, once similarly endangered, is now spoken by more than 800,000 people and is considered an alternative modern foreign language option in schools.

The second, is the evidence from this week’s event in Lys Kernow – that Cornish is a living language and demand for the language is real.

In 2024/25, the council's Cornish Language Team received over 650 requests to translate into Kernewek, over a million searches were made using the online Cornish dictionary, hundreds of adults signed up to Cornish language classes; one learning app alone has over 2,000 users.

There is also a legal and moral dimension. The Cornish people are recognised as a national minority under the European Framework Convention, and Kernewek now has the same protection as the other Celtic languages. This carries real obligations and Cornwall Council's strategy reflects that.

As Liberal Democrats, we believe identity, culture and language are not just nice to haves but intrinsic to building solid communities that protect our heritage. Every child in Cornwall deserves to know their home has an ancient and distinct language, and their joy at the showcase of their knowledge and love of the language, just reflects what an important accomplishment this has been, and why ring-fencing investment is absolutely the right thing to do.