Comments for PaulJ's bench..........

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by pauljohnston

pauljohnston — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:23:08 +0000

Cornishmen are denizens of England and have been as long as England itself has existed. They were part of the Roman Province of Britannia before that. I love Cornwall and have family living there. They, like many other romantic flyers of the flag of St. Piran, are retirees from the West Midlands. My wife is of Cornish descent from the Callington area, which is just west of the Tamar. I have been fond of Cornish pasties 9and steak and kidney pie) since my childhood in Lancashire.
I love the whole of this country and value its variety. I want all my fellow countrymen to love it too. What I deeply regret are the groups of people who purport to love it but who (often for motives of self-aggrandisement) seek to break it apart.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by pauljohnston

pauljohnston — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:11:54 +0000

I have no interest whatever in the further Balkanisation of the UK by subdividing England. You’ll be advocating restoration of the Heptarchy next.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by TheCornishRepublican (@TheCornishRep)

TheCornishRepublican (@TheCornishRep) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:11:02 +0000

@pauljohnston,
As to what a Cornish Assembly would do that our Unitary Authority cannot then just take a look at the Welsh Assembly and compare it to a County Council. Equally feel free to read the documents provided on the Cornish Constitutional Convention website.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by shaun the brummie

shaun the brummie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:09:40 +0000

so cornwall doesn’t want anything to do with england..fine…cornwall can live on the taxes it raises,and cornish pasties it “creates”,horrible dry things…not a patch on a good old steak and kidney pie.anyhow,cornwall can do as it wants,that’ll be another border needed patrolling,and all those ornish sports teams playing in english leagues and divisions can play with “themselves”,and leave us english with less benefits to dole out to another benefit dependent state.bye bye.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by pauljohnston

pauljohnston — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:52:52 +0000

By the same token is anything purely a Scottish matter either? The truth is that the component elements of the UK are so interwoven after all the centuries we have been together that disaggregation of them would be a very complex matter. National or regional separatists always seem to assume that the ‘Balkanisation’ of the UK would be a simple exercise and quote Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia as examples – well, they don’t usually mention Yogoslavia if they remember what happened in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kossovo etc. Of course, that sort of thing couldn’t happen here, could it? Neither Czechoslovakia nor Yugoslavia existed for more than 75 years overall and they were both broken up during the Nazi era and kept together thereafter by the strap of a Communist dictatorship (Yugoslavia had a ‘Royal’ dictatorship before WW2). England (including Cornwall!) has existed in its present shape for about 1200 years. Wales was incorporated into it in 1536 under Henry VIII having before that been ruled by a Council under the English crown since the late 13th century. The King of Scots inherited the English throne in 1603 and the united Kingdom of Great Britain was formed by the Act of Union in 1707 under his great grand daughter Queen Anne. This island had been united under a single government for much longer than any of the continental states that have split apart. Ripping it apart would be a piece of constitutional vandalism with unforeseeable consequences affecting the lives of every man, woman and child in it.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by pauljohnston

pauljohnston — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:32:20 +0000

What would your Cornish Assembly do that Cornwall County Council doesn’t? And would you want Cornwall to be part of a Federal UK? An English Parliament need not necessarily be in London, by the way.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by Nick Illingworth

Nick Illingworth — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:40:18 +0000

Good article, and I like your suggestion that a federal UK parliament should be much smaller than the current UK parliament – since that addresses one of the usual excuses for opposing an English parliament, that too many additional politicians would be required. If you make the House of Lords the UK federal parliament you could probably reduce the number of politicians when introducing an English parliament. I don’t share your nostalgia for Britain as a political entity though. Since British politicians only care about the UK and EU, but not England, better to kill the UK off completely, and that as soon as possible, via a similar referendum to that being scheduled for Scotland. The rationale here being, that the British have completely blown the opportunity provided by the past 15 years to show that they care about England, and that their death as a political force is probably a necessary precondition to addressing pressing English problems, particularly neglect of the North (in contrast to Scotland, Wales, NI), and indiscriminate immigration and over-development in the South.

Comment on The Westlothian question – and answer! by cornubian

cornubian — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:14:38 +0000

An English Parliament? No thanks. I’m Cornish, I have no real sense of attachment to the English nation and another centralised parliament far away in London would do zero for Cornwall’s culture, identity or economy. In 2002 the Cornish autonomist movement gathered a petition of 50,000 signatures (10% of our population) calling for a Cornish Assembly. This was supported by opinions polls at around 55% in favour.

The Cornish Constitutional Convention: http://www.cornishassembly.org/