109-558: The Wessex Regionalists is a minor English regionalist political party in the United Kingdom. It seeks a degree of legislative and administrative home rule for Wessex , an area in the south and south-west of England loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the same name. The party has contested a small number of Wessex-area parliamentary constituencies in most elections since it was established, but without success. Speaking at
218-562: A Cornish 'breakaway' bill to the Parliament in Westminster – 'The Government of Cornwall Bill'. The bill proposes a devolved Assembly for Cornwall, similar to the Welsh and Scottish set up. The bill states that Cornwall should re-assert its rightful place within the United Kingdom. Rogerson argued that, "Cornwall should re-assert its rightful place within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a unique part of
327-529: A Cornish Assembly." Andrew George lost his seat in the 2015 election. On Tuesday 17 July 2007, Local Government Minister John Healey MP announced Government plans to abolish regional assemblies . Functions of regional assemblies are planned to pass to Regional Development Agencies in 2010. The South West Regional Assembly was replaced by the South West Regional Development Agency in 2010. The South West Regional Development Agency
436-551: A Cornwall Councillor Bert Biscoe commissioned a researcher to see if self-governing practices used in Guernsey could be applied to Cornwall. In 2001, campaigners prevailed upon the UK census to count Cornish ethnicity as a write-in option on the national census, although there was no separate Cornish tick box. In 2004 school children in Cornwall could also record their ethnicity as Cornish on
545-435: A Parliament and a Cabinet, Scotland would demand a Parliament and a Cabinet, and Wales would do the same." However, "..if all these Parliaments were granted an unconstitutional injustice would be done to Cornwall, which was a separate country geographically.." going on to talk about Cornish identity and culture, "On these grounds, which were set up as good reasons for granting separate and independent Governments to other parts of
654-663: A Roman garrison at Aballava , now Burgh-by-Sands , in Cumbria: a 4th-century inscription says that the Roman military unit "Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum" ("unit of Aurelian Moors") from Mauretania (Morocco) was stationed there. Although the Roman Empire incorporated peoples from far and wide, genetic studies suggest the Romans did not significantly mix into the British population. The exact nature of
763-697: A greater extent than their white counterparts; however, groups such as the Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP) suggest the emergence of a broader civic and multi-ethnic English nationhood. Scholars and journalists have noted a rise in English self-consciousness, with increased use of the English flag , particularly at football matches where the Union flag was previously more commonly flown by fans. This perceived rise in English self-consciousness has generally been attributed to
872-449: A hustings shortly before the 2017 general election , advocated a second referendum and, if that were not possible, the "Norway option" of remaining in the single market. The party has been described as ethnoterritorial, though an earlier study of regionalist and nationalist parties in Britain reached the opposite conclusion, saying that "For regionalism, the legitimacy of the state as a whole
981-450: A large statistical spread in all cases. However, the authors noted that the similarity observed between the various sample groups was likely to be due to more recent internal migration. Another 2016 study conducted using evidence from burials found in northern England, found that a significant genetic difference was present in bodies from the Iron Age and the Roman period on the one hand, and
1090-457: A majority of respondents thought that being English was not dependent on race. 77% of white respondents in England agreed that "Being English is open to people of different ethnic backgrounds who identify as English", whereas 14% were of the view that "Only people who are white count as truly English". Amongst ethnic minority respondents, the equivalent figures were 68% and 19%. Research has found that
1199-597: A native British "North Atlantic" population and a Danish-like population. While much of the latter signature was attributed to the earlier settlement of the Anglo-Saxons, it was calculated that up to 6% of it could have come from Danish Vikings, with a further 4% contribution from a Norwegian-like source representing the Norwegian Vikings. The study also found an average 18% admixture from a source further south in Europe, which
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#17328451885601308-402: A parliament being established. Krishan Kumar notes that support for measures to ensure that only English MPs can vote on legislation that applies only to England is generally higher than that for the establishment of an English parliament, although support for both varies depending on the timing of the opinion poll and the wording of the question. Electoral support for English nationalist parties
1417-681: A rotating location in the style of the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot and as being based in Winchester , which had been the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex. The assembly would take power from Parliament in Westminster rather than from local authorities. In light of UK government recognition of the Cornish people as a national minority under a European treaty , the party called for greater protection of local produce and what it described as
1526-627: A separate ethnic identity, others have assimilated and intermarried with the English. Since Oliver Cromwell 's resettlement of the Jews in 1656, there have been waves of Jewish immigration from Russia in the 19th century and from Germany in the 20th. After the French king Louis XIV declared Protestantism illegal in 1685 in the Edict of Fontainebleau , an estimated 50,000 Protestant Huguenots fled to England. Due to sustained and sometimes mass emigration of
1635-651: A separate people from the English. This separation was enshrined when Alfred the Great signed the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum to establish the Danelaw, a division of England between English and Danish rule, with the Danes occupying northern and eastern England. However, Alfred's successors subsequently won military victories against the Danes, incorporating much of the Danelaw into the nascent kingdom of England. Danish invasions continued into
1744-626: A tourism industry conference in 1969, the then Viscount Weymouth suggested Wessex as a regional identity for tourism purposes. He later objected to the press over Wessex not being given the same opportunities as Scotland or Wales in the Kilbrandon Report . Lord Weymouth subsequently stood as the first Wessex Regionalist parliamentary candidate in Westbury in the February 1974 United Kingdom general election , coming last with 521 votes. The party
1853-551: Is ...divided into 3 great Provinces, or Countries ...every of them speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish.' During the Tudor period many travellers were clear that the Cornish were commonly regarded as a separate ethnic group. For example, Lodovico Falier , an Italian diplomat at the Court of Henry VIII , said, "The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men
1962-464: Is also low, even though there is public support for many of the policies they espouse. The English Democrats gained just 64,826 votes in the 2010 UK general election , accounting for 0.3 per cent of all votes cast in England. Kumar argued in 2010 that "despite devolution and occasional bursts of English nationalism – more an expression of exasperation with the Scots or Northern Irish – the English remain on
2071-486: Is complicated by most non-white people in England identifying as British rather than English. In their 2004 Annual Population Survey , the Office for National Statistics compared the ethnic identities of British people with their perceived national identity . They found that while 58% of white people in England described their nationality as "English", non-white people were more likely to describe themselves as "British". It
2180-435: Is not usually in question; the challenge is to its territorial organisation. This is in contrast to ethnic nationalism (for example, that advocated for Wales), which suggests that the state is not legitimate because it contains different nations." Its platform is based on the creation of a devolved assembly for the region it defines as Wessex. The party defines the counties of Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire,
2289-567: Is so different that they do not understand each other." He went on to give the alleged 'national characteristics' of the three peoples, saying for example 'the Cornishman is poor, rough and boorish' Another notable example is Gaspard de Coligny Châtillon – the French Ambassador in London – who wrote saying that England was not a united whole as it 'contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of
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#17328451885602398-507: 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." David Whally quit his post in 2009. In 2008 Cornish Liberal Democrat councillors agreed plans to create a Unitary authority for the region, abolishing the six district councils. This meant that where previously there
2507-418: Is unclear how many British people consider themselves English. The words "English" and "British" are often incorrectly used interchangeably, especially outside the UK. In his study of English identity, Krishan Kumar describes a common slip of the tongue in which people say "English, I mean British". He notes that this slip is normally made only by the English themselves and by foreigners: "Non-English members of
2616-612: Is usually termed "elite dominance". The second process is explained through incentives, such as the Wergild outlined in the law code of Ine of Wessex which produced an incentive to become Anglo-Saxon or at least English speaking. Historian Malcolm Todd writes, "It is much more likely that a large proportion of the British population remained in place and was progressively dominated by a Germanic aristocracy, in some cases marrying into it and leaving Celtic names in the, admittedly very dubious, early lists of Anglo-Saxon dynasties. But how we identify
2725-473: The 2015 general election , Bex cast doubt on the official version of events of the 2001 September 11 attacks . During the UK's 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union , the then-president Bex campaigned to leave. He described immigration as a "peaceful invasion", describing "people from all over the world" as "infiltrating" national institutions. Devizes candidate and party leader Jim Gunter, at
2834-765: The Angles . Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who invaded Britain around the 5th century AD. The English largely descend from two main historical population groups: the West Germanic tribes, including the Angles, Saxons , and Jutes who settled in Southern Britain following the withdrawal of the Romans , and the partially Romanised Celtic Britons who already lived there. Collectively known as
2943-493: The Anglo-Saxons , a group of closely related Germanic tribes that began migrating to eastern and southern Britain, from southern Denmark and northern Germany, in the 5th century AD, after the Romans had withdrawn from Britain . The Anglo-Saxons gave their name to England ("Engla land", meaning "Land of the Angles") and to the English. The Anglo-Saxons arrived in a land that was already populated by people commonly referred to as
3052-511: The Anglo-Saxons , they founded what was to become the Kingdom of England by the 10th century, in response to the invasion and extensive settlement of Danes and other Norsemen that began in the late 9th century. This was followed by the Norman Conquest and limited settlement of Normans in England in the late 11th century and a sizeable number of French Protestants who emigrated between
3161-565: The Council of Europe 's framework for the protection of national minorities, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities . The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate that funds the public, charitable and private activities of The Prince of Wales and his family. The Duchy itself consists of around 54,424 hectares (134,485 acres) of land in 23 counties, mostly in
3270-714: The Duchy of Cornwall – the Duchy being the body that collects the rents and dues on behalf of the Prince. (Duchy Charters: Section 5.11, [29]). Furthermore, the entirety of the Isles of Scilly is claimed despite the Duchy's admitting that they were not included in, rather "omitted" from, the three Duchy Charters. On 15 May 2000 the Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament (CSP), a pressure group formed in 1974, dispatched an invoice to
3379-581: The Irish , current estimates indicate that around 6 million people in the UK have at least one grandparent born in the Republic of Ireland. There has been a small black presence in England since the 16th century due to the slave trade , and a small Indian presence since at least the 17th century because of the East India Company and British Raj . Black and Asian populations have only grown throughout
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3488-473: The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives . It collected over 50,000 petition signatures. A similar petition was started online by Mebyon Kernow in 2014, along with a series of "Assembly Roadshows" . This only achieved 2655 signatures, (a significant minority of which were not from Cornwall,) leaving it far short of the 5000 needed. On 14 July 2009, Dan Rogerson MP, of the Liberal Democrats , presented
3597-587: The Neolithic Revolution 9,000 years ago; and Yamnaya Steppe pastoralists who expanded into Europe from the Pontic–Caspian steppe in the context of Indo-European migrations 5,000 years ago. Recent genetic studies have suggested that Britain's Neolithic population was largely replaced by a population from North Continental Europe characterised by the Bell Beaker culture around 2400 BC, associated with
3706-557: The Treaty of Union . The Parliament of Scotland had previously passed its own Act of Union, so the Kingdom of Great Britain was born on 1 May 1707. In 1801, another Act of Union formed a union between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland , creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922, about two-thirds of the Irish population (those who lived in 26 of
3815-1059: The Yamnaya people from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe . This population lacked genetic affinity to some other Bell Beaker populations, such as the Iberian Bell Beakers, but appeared to be an offshoot of the Corded Ware single grave people, as developed in Western Europe. It is currently unknown whether these Beaker peoples went on to develop Celtic languages in the British Isles , or whether later Celtic migrations introduced Celtic languages to Britain. The close genetic affinity of these Beaker people to Continental North Europeans means that British and Irish populations cluster genetically very closely with other Northwest European populations, regardless of how much Anglo-Saxon and Viking ancestry
3924-649: The devolution in the late 1990s of some powers to the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales . In policy areas for which the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have responsibility, the UK Parliament votes on laws that consequently only apply to England. Because the Westminster Parliament is composed of MPs from throughout the United Kingdom, this has given rise to
4033-464: The " Romano-British "—the descendants of the native Brittonic-speaking population that lived in the area of Britain under Roman rule during the 1st–5th centuries AD. The multi-ethnic nature of the Roman Empire meant that small numbers of other peoples may have also been present in England before the Anglo-Saxons arrived. There is archaeological evidence, for example, of an early North African presence in
4142-462: The " West Lothian question ", a reference to the situation in which MPs representing constituencies outside England can vote on matters affecting only England, but MPs cannot vote on the same matters in relation to the other parts of the UK. Consequently, groups such as the CEP have called for the creation of a devolved English Parliament , claiming that there is now a discriminatory democratic deficit against
4251-548: The "Wessex dialect". The party believes that the Wessex region has a distinct cultural identity, which it seeks to promote. It defines this culture as including morris dancing , cider , and the works of various local writers. The party was described in The Guardian as having a "nostalgia for pre–industrial revolution England". In 2010 , party leader Colin Bex advocated a 100% tax rate on
4360-552: The 11th century, and there were both English and Danish kings in the period following the unification of England (for example, Æthelred II (978–1013 and 1014–1016) was English but Cnut (1016–1035) was Danish). Gradually, the Danes in England came to be seen as 'English'. They had a noticeable impact on the English language: many English words, such as anger , ball , egg , got , knife , take , and they , are of Old Norse origin , and place names that end in -thwaite and -by are Scandinavian in origin. The English population
4469-479: The 16th and 18th centuries. Some definitions of English people include, while others exclude, people descended from later migration into England. England is the largest and most populous country of the United Kingdom . The majority of people living in England are British citizens. In the Acts of Union 1707 , the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland merged to become the Kingdom of Great Britain . Over
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4578-537: The 2014 European elections. A group called An Gof , referring to the blacksmith Michael An Gof who led the failed rebellion of 1497 , made a number of attacks in the 1980s, including a bomb at a courthouse in St Austell in 1980, a fire in a Penzance hairdressers a year later, and an arson attack on a bingo hall in Redruth . It remained silent until 2007, when it made a statement that "any attempts from hereon to fly
4687-540: The 32 counties of Ireland), left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State . The remainder became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, although this name was not introduced until 1927, after some years in which the term "United Kingdom" had been little used. Throughout the history of the UK, the English have been dominant in population and in political weight. As a consequence, notions of 'Englishness' and 'Britishness' are often very similar. At
4796-468: The Anglo-Saxon period on the other. Samples from modern-day Wales were found to be similar to those from the Iron Age and Roman burials, while samples from much of modern England, East Anglia in particular, were closer to the Anglo-Saxon-era burial. This was found to demonstrate a "profound impact" from the Anglo-Saxon migrations on the modern English gene pool, though no specific percentages were given in
4905-586: The British Isles". In 1965, the historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, When the Oxford History of England was launched a generation ago, "England" was still an all-embracing word. It meant indiscriminately England and Wales; Great Britain; the United Kingdom; and even the British Empire. Foreigners used it as the name of a Great Power and indeed continue to do so. Bonar Law , by origin a Scotch Canadian ,
5014-425: The Cornish language and for the aspiration of Cornish people to have the special status and needs of Cornwall to be acknowledged". In the 2009 local elections Mebyon Kernow won three of the 123 seats on the then newly created Cornwall Council . An independent councillor joined Mebyon Kernow in 2010. Mebyon Kernow also has 18 parish councillors elected. A number of nationalist independents were also elected to
5123-469: The Cornwall Council. Prior to the 2013 local elections Mebyon Kernow held six seats on the council, having gained two due to defections from other parties, and winning one in a by-election. Keeping the seat won in the by-election, and a gain of one seat elsewhere, left them with four in total. This dropped them to being the sixth largest group on the council, from the position of fourth largest prior to
5232-535: The Duchy. In 936, Athelstan fixed Cornwall's eastern boundary at the Tamar . The Italian scholar Polydore Vergil in his famous Anglica Historia , published in 1535, wrote that: 'the whole Countrie of Britain ...is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, [and] the fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue, ...in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces.' Writing in 1616, Arthur Hopton stated:'England
5341-416: The English language became more important even in the court, and the Normans were gradually assimilated, until, by the 14th century, both rulers and subjects regarded themselves as English and spoke the English language. Despite the assimilation of the Normans, the distinction between 'English' and 'French' people survived in some official documents long after it had fallen out of common use, in particular in
5450-578: The English. The establishment of an English parliament has also been backed by a number of Scottish and Welsh nationalists. Writer Paul Johnson has suggested that like most dominant groups, the English have only demonstrated interest in their ethnic self-definition when they were feeling oppressed. John Curtice argues that "In the early years of devolution...there was little sign" of an English backlash against devolution for Scotland and Wales, but that more recently survey data shows tentative signs of "a form of English nationalism...beginning to emerge among
5559-449: The Government of Cornwall Bill 2009 which proposed setting up a legislative Cornish Assembly. In the 2015, 2017 and 2019 elections all six Cornish seats returned Conservative MPs, ousting the aforementioned Lib Dem supporters. Mebyon Kernow is a member of the European Free Alliance party in the European Parliament . In the 2009 European elections it received 14,922 votes, insufficient to gain any MEPs . Mebyon Kernow did not stand in
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#17328451885605668-459: The Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire as being part of Wessex. Whilst this roughly corresponds to the South West Region , it also includes the Western counties of the South East Region , and excludes Cornwall , which it describes as being "the last of the Celtic areas to be incorporated into Wessex", and retaining its own identity , as well as a nationalist party, Mebyon Kernow . The assembly has variously been described as having
5777-424: The Lib Dems supporters from office. All six Conservative MPs were returned to office in the 2017 and 2019 elections. Lord Whitty , as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions , in the House of Lords , recognised that Cornwall has a "special case" for devolution . and on a visit to Cornwall the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said "Cornwall has
5886-453: The Minister's announcement will give us the future prospects to build a strong consensus, demonstrate Cornwall's distinctiveness from the Government zone for the South West and then draw up plans so that we can decide matters for ourselves locally rather than being told by unelected quangos in Bristol and elsewhere." Dan Rogerson lost his seat in the 2015 election . In December 2007, Cornwall County Council Leader David Whalley stated "There
5995-401: The Simpsons , showed Lisa Simpson chanting Free Cornwall Now! / Rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn ! ("Freedom for Cornwall now!") and holding a placard saying "UK OUT OF CORNWALL". Cornwall County Council 's Feb 2003 MORI poll showed 55% in favour of a referendum on an elected, fully devolved regional assembly for Cornwall and 13% against. (Previous result: 46% in favour in 2002) However
6104-417: The South West of England. The current Duke of Cornwall is William, Prince of Wales . The Duchy estate was created in 1337 by Edward III , King of England, for his son and heir, Prince Edward ; its primary function was to provide him and future Princes of Wales with an income from its assets. A charter ruled that each future Duke of Cornwall would be the eldest surviving son of the monarch and thus also
6213-504: The UK generally, as immigration from the British Empire and the subsequent Commonwealth of Nations was encouraged due to labour shortages during post World War II rebuilding. However, these groups are often still considered to be ethnic minorities and research has shown that black and Asian people in the UK are more likely to identify as British rather than with one of the state's four constituent nations, including England. A nationally representative survey published in June 2021 found that
6322-405: The United Kingdom rarely say 'British' when they mean 'English ' ". Kumar suggests that although this blurring is a sign of England's dominant position with the UK, it is also "problematic for the English [...] when it comes to conceiving of their national identity. It tells of the difficulty that most English people have of distinguishing themselves, in a collective way, from the other inhabitants of
6431-428: The United Kingdom. Wales was annexed by England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 , which incorporated Wales into the English state. A new British identity was subsequently developed when James VI of Scotland became James I of England as well, and expressed the desire to be known as the monarch of Britain. In 1707, England formed a union with Scotland by passing an Act of Union in March 1707 that ratified
6540-471: The United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. In the 2020 United States census , English Americans were the largest group in the United States with 46.5 million Americans self-identifying as having some English origins (many combined with another heritage) representing (19.8%) of the White American population. This includes 25.5 million (12.5%) who were "English alone" - one origin. However, demographers regard this as an undercount, as
6649-417: The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons and their relationship with the Romano-British is a matter of debate. The traditional view is that a mass invasion by various Anglo-Saxon tribes largely displaced the indigenous British population in southern and eastern Britain (modern-day England with the exception of Cornwall ). This is supported by the writings of Gildas , who gives the only contemporary historical account of
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#17328451885606758-416: The cases of eastern regions such as East Anglia and Lincolnshire, while in parts of Northumbria, much of the native population likely remained in place as the incomers took over as elites. In a study of place names in northeastern England and southern Scotland, Bethany Fox found that the migrants settled in large numbers in river valleys, such as those of the Tyne and the Tweed, with the Britons moving to
6867-449: The chief officer of the Duchy of Cornwall , the Lord Warden of the Stannaries . This invoice demanded a refund of a calculated £20 billion overcharge in taxation on tin production from 1337 to 1837. This was calculated according to production figures and historic wealth calculation methods (from an unpublished thesis of a Harvard University undergraduate dating from 1908), and The Sunday Times Rich List , March 2000, respectively. Cornwall
6976-472: The complex nature of national identities, with many people considering themselves both English and British. A 2017 survey by YouGov found that 38% of English voters considered themselves both English and British, alongside 19% who felt English but not British. Recent surveys of public opinion on the establishment of an English parliament have given widely varying conclusions. In the first five years of devolution for Scotland and Wales, support in England for
7085-595: The country, and this should be reflected in the way that it is governed. We should have the right to determine areas of policy that affect the people of Cornwall the hardest, such as rules on housing ... Cornwall has the right to a level of self-Government. If the Government is going to recognise the right of Scotland and Wales to greater self-determination because of their unique cultural and political positions, then they should recognise ours." The Cornish independence movement received unexpected publicity in 2004, when Channel 4 's Alternative Christmas message , featuring
7194-443: The death of King Stephen in 1154, when the succession passed to Henry II , House of Plantagenet (based in France), and England became part of the Angevin Empire until its collapse in 1214. Anglo-Norman and Latin continued to be the two languages used officially by the Plantagenet kings until Edward I came to the throne, when Middle English became used in official documents, but alongside Anglo-Norman and Latin. Over time
7303-403: The door for Cornish Liberals to use cultural themes for political purposes. In April 1889, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil , the Marquis of Salisbury (who served three times as Prime Minister) at a meeting of the Primrose League in Bristol, spoke on the state of the Union. At the time, an Irish Cabinet "with all the appurtenances of government" was being considered. He said that "if Ireland were granted
7412-484: The election, being overtaken by UKIP and the Labour party. In the 2017 council elections Mebyon Kernow again won 4 of the 123 seats available. Mebyon Kernow does not have any members elected to the UK parliament , but Andrew George and Dan Rogerson of the Liberal Democrats took up nationalist causes both in Parliament and outside of it. Andrew George was the first MP to take his parliamentary oath in Cornish . All five Cornish Liberal Democrat MPs put their names to
7521-421: The empire, the claims of Cornwall could not be overlooked to a separate and independent Government, and if it was to come about, he hoped that all the alliances of the commission Parliaments and Cabinets would be friendly to the British Government." Henry Jenner was an important figure in early 20th-century Cornish national awareness. He made the case for Cornwall's membership in the Celtic Congress , pioneered
7630-470: The establishment of an English parliament was low at between 16 and 19%, according to successive British Social Attitudes Surveys . A report, also based on the British Social Attitudes Survey, published in December 2010 suggests that only 29% of people in England support the establishment of an English parliament, though this figure had risen from 17% in 2007. One 2007 poll carried out for BBC Newsnight , however, found that 61 per cent would support such
7739-449: The general public". Michael Kenny, Richard English and Richard Hayton, meanwhile, argue that the resurgence in English nationalism predates devolution, being observable in the early 1990s, but that this resurgence does not necessarily have negative implications for the perception of the UK as a political union. Others question whether devolution has led to a rise in English national identity at all, arguing that survey data fails to portray
7848-701: The hated and oppressive Flag of St George , which we know as the blood banner in our country, will result in direct action by our organisation". An English flag in Tresillian earlier that year was destroyed and the words "English Out" daubed on a garden wall. In 2007, an email was sent from someone claiming to represent the Cornish National Liberation Army . It made headlines when it threatened to burn down two restaurants in Padstow and Newquay belonging to Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver respectively, whom
7957-515: The index of inconsistency is high, and many, if not most, people from English stock have a tendency (since the introduction of a new 'American' category and ignoring the ancestry question in the 2000 census) to identify as simply Americans or if of mixed European ancestry, identify with a more recent and differentiated ethnic group. Prior to this, in the 2000 census , 24,509,692 Americans described their ancestry as wholly or partly English. In addition, 1,035,133 recorded British ancestry. This
8066-402: The language, which had almost died out, has caused some interest in the concept of Cornish identity. The history of modern Cornish nationalism goes back to the end of the 19th century. The failure of Irish home rule caused Gladstone's Liberal party to revise and make more relevant its devolution policy by advocating the idea of 'home rule all round' applying to Scotland and Wales but opening
8175-400: The legal process Presentment of Englishry (a rule by which a hundred had to prove an unidentified murdered body found on their soil to be that of an Englishman, rather than a Norman, if they wanted to avoid a fine). This law was abolished in 1340. Since the 18th century, England has been one part of a wider political entity covering all or part of the British Isles, which today is called
8284-477: The less fertile hill country and becoming acculturated over a longer period. Fox describes the process by which English came to dominate this region as "a synthesis of mass-migration and elite-takeover models." From about 800 AD, waves of Danish Viking assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles were gradually followed by a succession of Danish settlers in England. At first, the Vikings were very much considered
8393-564: The male heir to the throne. The current Duke of Cornwall , Prince William, as eldest son of the reigning monarch, is also the Prince of Wales . The rights of the Dukes of Cornwall include the right to intestate estates, bona vacantia , treasure trove , gold and silver deposits, waste land, foreshore, rivers and estuaries, mines, mineral rights, rights of common, castles, advowsons , and so on – whether in possession or reputed or claimed to be parcel of
8502-424: The money it would be spent on an agency to boost Cornwall's economy. The Guardian went on to point out that the (then) Duke of Cornwall himself, Charles the Prince of Wales is in effect trustee and cannot sell off the Duchy's assets thus he would have difficulty in paying the bill. Charles does not receive any money from the state. His financial stability comes from the £5m-£6m annual net surplus generated by
8611-647: The most supportive of regional government. Lord Weymouth (who succeeded as The 7th Marquess of Bath in June 1992) was the first president of the party, later defecting to the Liberal Democrats although in 1999 he was "still in touch" with the Wessex Regionalists. Subsequent presidents have included the activist John Banks and the former architect Colin Bex. In 2013, Dorset County Councillor David C Fox switched his party allegiance from Liberal Democrat to Wessex Regionalist for his final few days in office. During
8720-702: The movement to revive the Cornish language , and founded the Cornish Gorseth . Some intellectual support for Cornish self-government has come from the Institute of Cornish Studies , affiliated to the University of Exeter . In 2000, the Cornish Constitutional Convention launched a campaign for a Cornish Assembly . This was a cross-party movement representing many political voices and positions in Cornwall, from Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Solidarity to
8829-553: The new French-speaking Norman elite almost universally replaced the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and church leaders. After the conquest, "English" normally included all natives of England, whether they were of Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian or Celtic ancestry, to distinguish them from the Norman invaders, who were regarded as "Norman" even if born in England, for a generation or two after the Conquest. The Norman dynasty ruled England for 87 years until
8938-559: The new devolved political arrangements within the United Kingdom ;– and the waning of a shared British national identity with the growing distance between the end of the British Empire and the present. Many recent immigrants to England have assumed a solely British identity, while others have developed dual or mixed identities. Use of the word "English" to describe Britons from ethnic minorities in England
9047-413: The period, and describes the slaughter and starvation of native Britons by invading tribes ( aduentus Saxonum ). Furthermore, the English language contains no more than a handful of words borrowed from Brittonic sources. This view was later re-evaluated by some archaeologists and historians, with a more small-scale migration being posited, possibly based around an elite of male warriors that took over
9156-666: The population of Northern Ireland and 20% of the Welsh population were born in England. Similarly, the census of the Republic of Ireland does not collect information on ethnicity, but it does record that there are over 200,000 people living in Ireland who were born in England and Wales . English ethnic descent and emigrant communities are found primarily in the Western world , and settled in significant numbers in some areas. Substantial populations descended from English colonists and immigrants exist in
9265-459: The proportion of people who consider being white to be a necessary component of Englishness has declined over time. The 1990s witnessed a resurgence of English national identity. Survey data shows a rise in the number of people in England describing their national identity as English and a fall in the number describing themselves as British. Today, black and minority ethnic people of England still generally identify as British rather than English to
9374-460: The rest of England, and speaking a different language.' In 1603, the Venetian ambassador wrote that the late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples': 'English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish ...and Irish'. It seems however that the recognition by outsiders of the Cornish as a separate people declined with the language, which by the 19th century had essentially ceased to be used. The modern revival of
9483-554: The rest of England. In 2011, an e-petition directed at Westminster was launched. In September 2011, George Eustice , Conservative Member of Parliament for Camborne and Redruth, argued that Cornwall's heritage should be administered by a Cornish organisation rather than English Heritage . On 24 April 2014 the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, announced that the Cornish people had been granted minority status under
9592-500: The rule of the country and gradually acculturated the people living there. Within this theory, two processes leading to Anglo-Saxonisation have been proposed. One is similar to culture changes observed in Russia, North Africa and parts of the Islamic world, where a politically and socially powerful minority culture becomes, over a rather short period, adopted by a settled majority. This process
9701-465: The same MORI poll indicated an equal number of Cornish respondents were in favour of a South West Regional Assembly, (70% in favour of a Cornish assembly, 72% in favour of a S.West Regional assembly). The campaign for a Cornish Assembly had the support of all three Cornish Lib Dem MPs, Mebyon Kernow , and Cornwall Council. However, in 2015, the Conservative party won all six seats in Cornwall, removing
9810-485: The same time, after the Union of 1707, the English, along with the other peoples of the British Isles, have been encouraged to think of themselves as British rather than to identify themselves with the constituent nations. England has been the destination of varied numbers of migrants at different periods from the 17th century onwards. While some members of these groups seek to practise a form of pluralism, attempting to maintain
9919-526: The schools census. In 2004, a campaign was started to field a Cornish national team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games . However, in 2006, the Commonwealth Games Federation stated that "Cornwall is no more than an English county". The concept that the Cornish are a separate ethnicity is based on the Celtic origin and language of the Cornish , making them an ethnic minority distinct from people in
10028-495: The strongest regional identity in the UK." In October 2007 the then Lib Dem MP Andrew George stated in a press release, "Just because the Government has approached the whole Regional Devolution agenda in entirely the wrong way, does not mean to say that the project itself should be ditched. If Scotland is benefiting from devolution then Cornwall should learn from this and increase the intensity of its own campaign for devolution to
10137-567: The study. A third study combined the ancient data from both of the preceding studies and compared it to a large number of modern samples from across Britain and Ireland. This study found that modern southern, central and eastern English populations were of "a predominantly Anglo-Saxon-like ancestry" while those from northern and southwestern England had a greater degree of indigenous origin. A major 2020 study, which used DNA from Viking-era burials in various regions across Europe, found that modern English samples showed nearly equal contributions from
10246-598: The surviving Britons in areas of predominantly Anglo-Saxon settlement, either archaeologically or linguistically, is still one of the deepest problems of early English history." An emerging view is that the degree of population replacement by the Anglo-Saxons, and thus the degree of survival of the Romano-Britons, varied across England, and that as such the overall settlement of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons cannot be described by any one process in particular. Large-scale migration and population shift seems to be most applicable in
10355-487: The top 10% of earners, with the revenue passed to parish councils. 1979 English people Modern ethnicities The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England , who speak the English language , a West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The English identity began with the Anglo-Saxons , when they were known as the Angelcynn , meaning race or tribe of
10464-438: The use of "English" over "British", argued that English identity, rather than growing, had existed all along but has recently been unmasked from behind a veneer of Britishness. English people, like most Europeans, largely descend from three distinct lineages: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers , descended from a Cro-Magnon population that arrived in Europe about 45,000 years ago; Neolithic farmers who migrated from Anatolia during
10573-433: The whole satisfied with current constitutional arrangements". From the earliest times, English people have left England to settle in other parts of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is impossible to identify their numbers, as British censuses have historically not invited respondents to identify themselves as English. However, the census does record place of birth, revealing that 8.1% of Scotland's population, 3.7% of
10682-486: The years, English customs and identity have become fairly closely aligned with British customs and identity in general. The demonyms for men and women from England are Englishman and Englishwoman. England itself has no devolved government. The 1990s witnessed a rise in English self-awareness. This is linked to the expressions of national self-awareness of the other British nations of Wales, Scotland and, to some extent, Northern Ireland which take their most solid form in
10791-548: Was a numerical decrease from the census in 1990 where 32,651,788 people or 13.1% of the population self-identified with English ancestry. Cornish nationalism Cornish nationalism is a cultural , political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England . It is usually based on three general arguments: Cornish nationalists, such as Mebyon Kernow , generally seek some form of autonomy for Cornwall. In 2003,
10900-506: Was charged at over twice the rate levied on the adjacent county of Devon . On 17 May 2000 The Guardian reported that the CSP claimed that the Duchy had levied an excess tax on tin production in Cornwall for five hundred years, and requested repayment within 120 days. The CSP argued that their action demonstrated how Cornwall was treated separately from England in the past, and thus should have special status today. They declared that if they received
11009-493: Was closed in 2012. On 19 July 2007, MP Dan Rogerson welcomed the government announcement that unelected Regional Assemblies are to be scrapped and he asked the government to look again at the case for a locally accountable Cornish Assembly and Cornish Development agency, "in light of the important convergence funding from the EU". Cornish MP Andrew George said in July 2007 I'm optimistic that
11118-590: Was for the most part a politically unified entity, and remained permanently so after 954. The nation of England was formed in 12 July 927 by Æthelstan of Wessex after the Treaty of Eamont Bridge , as Wessex grew from a relatively small kingdom in the South West to become the founder of the Kingdom of the English, incorporating all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the Danelaw. The Norman conquest of England during 1066 brought Anglo-Saxon and Danish rule of England to an end, as
11227-472: Was formally constituted in 1981. It initially used Thomas Hardy 's definition of Wessex as Berkshire , Hampshire , Wiltshire , Somerset , Dorset and Devon ; but later added Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire . It pulled out of the 1987 general election and advocated that its supporters voted for the Liberal/SDP Alliance on the basis that they were a close second in many Wessex seats and were
11336-483: Was interpreted as reflecting the legacy of French migration under the Normans. A landmark 2022 study titled "The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool", found the English to be of plurality Anglo-Saxon-like ancestry, with heavy native Celtic Briton , and newly confirmed medieval French admixture. Significant regional variation was also observed. The first people to be called "English" were
11445-738: Was introduced during the 1st millennium. The influence of later invasions and migrations on the English population has been debated, as studies that sampled only modern DNA have produced uncertain results and have thus been subject to a large variety of interpretations. More recently, however, ancient DNA has been used to provide a clearer picture of the genetic effects of these movements of people. One 2016 study, using Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon era DNA found at grave sites in Cambridgeshire, calculated that ten modern day eastern English samples had 38% Anglo-Saxon ancestry on average, while ten Welsh and Scottish samples each had 30% Anglo-Saxon ancestry, with
11554-495: Was managed from outside of Cornwall. There have in fact been suggestions that powers could be taken from the new Cornish unitary authority as it may struggle to cope with the extra workload inherited from the district councils. A premise for a single governing body for Cornwall was that the new Cornwall Council would have greater powers, being granted more responsibilities from Westminster. The Communist Party of Britain has voiced support saying "[We] support....Cornish culture and
11663-616: Was not ashamed to describe himself as "Prime Minister of England" [...] Now terms have become more rigorous. The use of "England" except for a geographic area brings protests, especially from the Scotch . However, although Taylor believed this blurring effect was dying out, in his book The Isles: A History (1999), Norman Davies lists numerous examples in history books of "British" still being used to mean "English" and vice versa. In December 2010, Matthew Parris in The Spectator , analysing
11772-405: Was not politically unified until the 10th century. Before then, there were a number of petty kingdoms which gradually coalesced into a heptarchy of seven states, the most powerful of which were Mercia and Wessex . The English nation state began to form when the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms united against Danish Viking invasions, which began around 800 AD. Over the following century and a half England
11881-484: Was once one elected member for every 3,000 residents, there is now one councillor for every 7,000 people. The unitary authority "One Cornwall" Council does however not have the same powers as the proposed Cornish Assembly. Westminster ruled out any extra powers for Cornwall and the South West Regional Development Agency remained in place until 2009. This means that Cornish Objective One money
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