Informed takes from our columnists.
- A decade after voting ‘Remain’ I still can’t stand English liberals.
There is a particular kind of English liberal who only seems to remember that Cornwall exists when they want to go on holiday or need someone to blame for Brexit. Scroll any comments section under a Cornish post about Brexit, poverty, fishing, housing, or devolution and you will find them. Their smug certainty that they are on the right side of history is immediately evident, and they express abject delight that other people are paying the price. “Cornwall voted Leave, what did they… Read more: A decade after voting ‘Remain’ I still can’t stand English liberals. - Cornwall’s By-election result- Reform Cannot help Local Communities in Cornwall.
Yesterday, voters went to the polls in St Columb Minor and Colan, a council ward in North Cornwall. The winner, Heinz Glanville of Reform UK, is the successor to Christine Parsonage, another Reform councillor who resigned in November due to health problems. Despite Reform being replaced with… well, Reform in this election, the party cannot help communities in Cornwall. They will abandon locals at the first opportunity, as is plain to see in the party’s grand strategy, which appears to focus solely on… Read more: Cornwall’s By-election result- Reform Cannot help Local Communities in Cornwall. - Three Things Are Certain: Death, Taxes, and Westminster’s Disdain for Cornish Identity.
Image: Steve Reed MP. Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and the Westminster government’s disdain for Cornish identity. The latest example came in the form of the official government response to a petition calling for Cornish nationhood. It is a masterpiece of Whitehall waffle, promising devolution, praising “regional voices,” and assuring us that Cornwall’s status will not change. Which is, of course, precisely the problem. Let’s not kid ourselves. This petition was never going to set the House of Commons aflame… Read more: Three Things Are Certain: Death, Taxes, and Westminster’s Disdain for Cornish Identity. - History is not sacred: why the Corker Memorial must fall
History has always been about who we mourn, who we memorialise, and who we bury without a name. Western institutions that were endowed by empire still continue to display memorials of powerful white men – now resoundingly shown to be the villains of history – whilst leaving their victims unnamed and unacknowledged. One such memorial is to a Slave Trader, Thomas Corker, displayed in the King Charles the Martyr Church in Falmouth. “A very negligent and extravagant life.” Thomas Corker was England’s chief… Read more: History is not sacred: why the Corker Memorial must fall - We’re Not Poor. We’re Plundered.
Cornwall Isn’t Too Poor for a self-governing Parliament, it’s Been Robbed. One of the most common arguments made against the idea of Cornwall having its own Parliament is the claim that Cornwall is simply “too poor” to govern itself. That, without Westminster’s guiding hand, Kernow would flounder in poverty and mismanagement. But let’s be clear, Cornwall is not poor because it lacks wealth. It is poor because its wealth has been stolen. And with the ability for Cornwall to make its own economic… Read more: We’re Not Poor. We’re Plundered. - Jack Harries and the Nature of White Liberalism
I recently stumbled across a video entitled “What happened to JacksGap?” and found myself curious about one of the platform’s early creators as to what he’s been up to. I was surprised to learn that Jack Harries (formerly JacksGap) had relocated to Cornwall in an effort to “get back to nature” and “slow down.” Unfortunately for Jack, I think he now represents much of what’s wrong with wealthy, white liberalism. This piece isn’t just a critique of his ideology but also of his… Read more: Jack Harries and the Nature of White Liberalism - The Threat of English Nationalism to Cornwall’s Celtic Identity.
Across these over 700 islands, national identity is being reshaped. Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum reignited a sense of nationhood that has only grown stronger, with the SNP firmly established in the political landscape. Despite their defeat in the 2024 General Election and ongoing internal challenges, the SNP remains a key player on the European stage. In Wales, YesCymru has brought the question of sovereignty into the mainstream, supported by the cultural revival of the Welsh language and the steady rise of Plaid Cymru.… Read more: The Threat of English Nationalism to Cornwall’s Celtic Identity. - After the failure of his Benefit Bill, could Kier Starmer look any weaker?
Kier Starmer is not a popular man. In fact he holds the worst approval rating of any UK prime minister this far into a tenure in modern British history. He looks constantly to appeal to the more right-wing sector of the electorate, enacting authoritarian attacks on the elderly, disabled people, trans people, immigrants, and on and on. Yet he simply cannot win them over because he can never be right wing enough, even as he continues to trample on the left in his… Read more: After the failure of his Benefit Bill, could Kier Starmer look any weaker? - A Retrospective on the Local Elections and Reform’s Politics of Vibes.
Reform UK have finally confirmed appointments to local government committees in Cornwall this week, a month after their admittedly impressive local government gain of 28 out of 87 seats. This was after delaying appointments and slamming the other parties’ “undemocratic” moves to secure control of the council without Reform. At the beginning of May, They gained another seat in the Commons and have stormed the gates of some local councils up and down England. But now they make up a considerable proportion of local councils, and have sizeable handfuls of… Read more: A Retrospective on the Local Elections and Reform’s Politics of Vibes.