Politics and Government: South West Region
Constitutional Affairs
Written answers and statements, 29 March 2007
Andrew George (St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs
(1) what distinct constitutional status applies to (a) Cornwall, (b) the Isles of Scilly, (c) the Cornish people, (d) the Duchy of Cornwall, (e) the Council of the Isles of Scilly, (f) Cornish stannary organisations and (g) any other Cornish or Duchy based institution which does not apply to England;
(2) what (a) treaties, (b) Acts of Parliament, (c) regulations and (d) statutory instruments provide distinct status to (i) Cornwall and (ii) the Isles of Scilly which does not apply to England.
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Lewisham East, Labour)
The Government addressed the question about the constitutional status of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and the Duchy of Cornwall on
Cornwall has always been an integral part of the Union. There are no treaties today that apply to Cornwall only. With the exception of geographically limited matters such as Private Acts of Parliament for infrastructure works, Acts of Parliament, regulations and statutory instruments apply in Cornwall as they do throughout England, but do not always apply to the Isles of Scilly. There is no special status for legislation which applies to Cornwall or to Cornish localities.
Annotations
Philip Hosking
Posted on 1 Apr 2007 1:08 pm (Report this annotation)
Some questions:
1)In the book "The Cornish Question" by Mark Sandford that was published by the Constitutional Unit, School of Public Policy, University College London in 2002 it states that -
"The existence of the Duchy of Cornwall was once of constitutional significance, but is now essentially a commercial organisation".
Considering that this commercial organisation is the largest landowner in Cornwall and cliams to be nothing but a private estate and company, you would think it reasonable to expect there to be an official date of change-over from an official body of constitutional significance into a purely private commercial organisation.
In the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act 1858 it states that the Duchy of Cornwall is a 'territorial possession' of Britain.
So, sometime between 1858 and the present day, a territory of Britain transformed into a private commercial organisation.
WHEN?
2)A court case in 1828, A trial at Bar (Rowe v. Brenton) it was affirmed that everything connected with the Duchy is "of public interest", and "all the Kingdom should take notice". Quite righly so considering the Duchy of Cornwall is a territory of Britain. Yet when Cornish MP Andrew George raised questions on the 16th June 1997 about the affairs of the Duchy he was told that there is an injunction in the House of Commons that prevents such questions being raised.
WHY?
3)In The Annual Accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall 1998, it states that `-
"Accounts are prepared in accordance with instructions issued by H.M. Treasury. The Duchy's primary function is to provide an income for present and future Dukes of Cornwall. The Duke is only entitled to the net income"
This means the Treasury deals with the Duchy as if it were a government department. So how can the Duke of Cornwall be the owner of a private estate?
4)In his book, "Charles, Duke of Cornwall", Michael William states that the Duchy of Cornwall owns 54,000 acres of mineral rights, 160 miles of foreshore, and 11,300 acres of fundus".
Now, the Royal Mines Act of 1688, which is still in force, presents a legal challenge to the royal claims to minerals in Cornwall as private property, since, the Act declares, "No mine of copper, tin, iron or lead shall hereafter be adjudged reputed or taken to be a royal mine although gold and silver may be extracted out of the same".
As a member of the royal family, the Duke of Cornwall, has, for the past three centuries at least, had no legitimate claim to base minerals, including tin, in Cornwall.
So how does The Duchy "own" 54,000 acres of mineral rights that include tin?
These are some of the questions being asked by the Cornish Stannary Parliament and groups like Tyr Gwyr Gweryn, and they should be deemed an important enough question to be answered by someone in authority, whether that authority be a Government office, Cornwall County Council or Duchy of Cornwall office. Anyone wanting to dismiss claims by Cornish nationalists should take up the chalenge of answering these question. After all, claiming a national territory and making it your own private business is no small affair - on a par with opening the newspaper this morning to find out that Richard Branson suddenly owns Gibralter as a private business concern - and then reading that it was once a UK protectorate but now it belongs to Virgin - as the only official explaination for the change over.