Despite the jocular nature of this thread, I think that the nation-state as we know it is dying. It no longer has a role in the modern world. I think that over the next 100 years the large, diverse countries that we know will break down into regional structures linked in supra-national groupings. One hundred years from now I would not be surprised to see much greater autonomy or independence for Cornwall ( other than being surprised at seeing anything at all!)
It's a well known fact that Yorkshire, being 'north of the Humber' belongs originally to Northumberland.
There is evidence to suggest that Luton was originally named after the Celtic god Lugh ie. Lugh's town. The Angles, upon establishing Mercia (of which Lugh's Town was a part) found accounts of Lugh in the Lebor Gabála Erenn (an old Gaelic text) and interpreted this as Leper Town and established a leper colony there. The named appears in the Domesday book as Lointone - meaning where Loins are scratched. As a result of being used as a dumping ground Lutonian English has remained very simple and quite distinct from Mercian English being confined to a few simple expressions such as 'innit' and Watchew looking at mate` thus being very simple for Asians to learn. The only real written language there being Punjabi.
I tend to agree NZ. Also the history of the 'Nation State' is nothing like as old as we think it is - people in more distant history identifying themselves with things like 'christendom' or with dynasties etc. nearly all armies before Napoleon also had a mercenary nature about them. It's no surprise that those nations which are, or could, break up are those which have had a very centralized power structure up to now. Ironically the one country which I would say will never break up is multi lingual Switzerland which has had the fortune of never being centralized, has a very locally based form of democracy, has never had the misfortune to live under either a monarch or a hereditary aristocracy - and is the oldest established democracy in Europe - we can learn a lot from them.
There is a theory that the most Celtic people in the UK are in Sussex, not on the western and northern extremities. This is because all invaders land on the south coast and head directly for London missing out the bit in between. Once in London they push on northwards at a more leisurely pace, allowing time to crack some heads and a bit of plundering.
I suppose I should make a post about my thoughts here about Scottish and Cornish independence, which are really summed up by a quote, which might not be verbatim, that Jennifer Anniston made to Ross in Friends when he was talking about some old fossils or something similar: " blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah. "
Very similar to the Scottish yes voters dialect which goes :- baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa baaa
Just back from a week in Cornwall so I missed this "debate". It's rather sad to think Cornwall once had thriving industries, especially mining, clay extraction and fishing, which have either been drastically reduced or have gone altogether. Towns like Redruth and Camborne have certainly seen better days. Tourism clearly provides economic benefit but it's seasonal and unreliable and much of the employment it brings is low paid. Even in September the number of empty houses around the coastal fringe is impossible to ignore and house prices bear no relation to local purchasing power. The County Council seems to have few admirers among locals and most feel all services are not as good as they once were. No-one I spoke to seems to have much idea how to reverse the decline either...
Cornish Independence should be in Bude. In every good Cornishman there should be no doubting that fact. I'm sorry, I'll repunctuate that: Cornish Independence should be imbued in every good Cornishman, there should be no doubting that fact.
It seems strange that the calls for a Cornish Assembly were blown out of the water in 2004, not by the people there having a vote, but by the people in the North-East having one. 78% of people in the NE voted against the idea of a regional assembly up there, so John Prescott quickly dropped the whole idea. Mebyon Kernow the nationalist party did manage to detach itself from Devon as it was holding back EU funding, but while the UK government is so doubtful about Europe they probably don't get all of the help that is available to them.
Admittedly, my origin text was rather tongue in cheek - but Cornwall is a special case. Cornwall is legally and constitutionally a Duchy and has the right to veto Westminster legislation - it has never been formally incorporated into England by any act of union Constitutional head of state there is not the Queen but rather the Duke of Cornwall. So, do they need a referendum or could they make a unilateral declaration of independence ? The Cornish claim also rests on the taxes levied upon Cornish Tin mines which were double those for England for about 500 years (current value circa 20 Billion Pounds) - thus not being treated as a part of England. A proposed Cornish assembly has the support of all 3 Lib Dem. Cornish MPs and in the last poll (made in 2003) 55% of Cornish people were in favour of a referendum - interestingly though a higher figure (72%) were in favour of a South West Assembly - including Devon and Somerset. There was a sort of South West Assembly which was axed in 2007, but it didn't have the support of the people because it was too large (including Gloucs, Wilts etc) and was non elected. Just a thought to ponder - Cornwall is sitting upon the biggest potential source of geo thermal energy in Britain.
