Mebyon Kernow leader Cllr Dick Cole has appealed to people across Cornwall to maximise their efforts to oppose the imposition of a Devonwall seat.

This follows the receipt of an unhelpful letter from the Minister for the Constitution, Chris Skidmore MP, about MK’s request for an amendment to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act to prevent the creation of a cross-Tamar seat.

Mr Skidmore has stated: ’The Government does not believe it should now seek to change the rules that the Boundary Commissions must apply when proposing new constituency boundaries, adding that ’the current boundary review should, therefore, take its course in line with the legislation agreed by Parliament.’

In response, Cllr Cole said: ’The creation of a cross-Tamar Devonwall constituency would be a disaster for Cornwall, breaching the thousand-year-old border of the Tamar and undermining the very territorial integrity of the historic nation of Cornwall. Please join us in flooding Mr Skidmore’s office – and those of local MPs – with thousands of letters, emails and other representations. We must maximise our efforts on this matter and force them to recognise the democratic rights of Cornwall.’

Mebyon Kernow’s letter to the Minister had made specific reference to the importance of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Government’s commitment to treat the Cornish with the same status as the ’UK’s other Celtic people, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish.’