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An end to austerity politics
Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall is working with progressive alternatives across the United Kingdom, such as Plaid Cymru and the SNP, to bring an end to the austerity agenda of the London-based political parties. -
Decent public services for all
Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall is committed to a just and fair society. We believe effective public intervention is needed to combat poverty, tackle social deprivation and fight for the disadvantaged, and to tackle ills in Cornish society, such as social deprivation, unemployment, low wages and poor housing. -
A strategy for a sustainable economy
Mebyon Kernow is campaigning for the rebalancing of the United Kingdom economy, away from the present concentration on London and the South East of England. This includes a commitment to an Economic Fairness Act to ensure that Cornwall gets its fair share of government investment. -
A fair tax system
MK is committed to effective public intervention to tackle ills in society such as unemployment and poor housing. This means that there is a need for a sufficient public resource and this implies fair and redistributive taxation. -
Planning in and for Cornwall
Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall supports well-balanced planning policies which protect the Cornish countryside, while allowing appropriate developments that meet the needs of local communities (ie. proper local-needs housing). -
Affordable homes for local people
Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall believes that local families have a fundamental right to good quality housing, both for purchase and rent, in their own communities and at a price that is truly affordable to people of Cornish wages. -
A Climate Change Act for Cornwall
Mebyon Kernow understands that unsustainability is truly global and must be tackled through action at worldwide as well as local levels. -
Fair funding for Cornwall
Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall has a proud record of campaigning for fair funding for Cornwall and its local communities. We know that Cornwall gets a raw deal from Westminster. -
Greater self-government for Cornwall
Mebyon Kernow believes that the historic nation of Cornwall, with its own distinct identity, language and heritage, has the same right to self-determination as other constituent parts of the UK, such as Scotland and Wales. -
A more just and peaceful World
Mebyon Kernow is an internationalist and outward-looking political party. Our vision for Cornwall and the World is underpinned by respect for the diversity of the planet, both its human cultural traditions and its natural environment. -
A reformed Europe
It is our belief that nations and regions throughout the World should work together, but that does not mean we are not critical of how the European Union is presently constituted. The Europe of today is one of centralisation, limited democratic control, big business and bureaucracy, and MK – along with many other progressive groups in the European Free Alliance – is campaigning for the increased democratisation of the EU, greater transparency and increased Cornish representation. -
Recognition for Cornwall
In 2014, central government bowed to years of pressure and recognised the Cornish people through the Framework Convention on National Minorities. This cultural recognition, embodied in minority status, is a landmark ruling. The challenge now for the people of Cornwall must be to achieve a wider acceptance of our right to greater control over our political, civic, and economic lives through the creation of a legislative National Assembly of Cornwall.
Putting Cornwall First
Mebyon Kernow is
a progressive left-of-centre party in Cornwall. We are striving to build a confident and outward-looking Cornwall that has the
power to take decisions, directly affecting the people of Cornwall, locally.
Our policies are founded on three core values:
- Prosperity for all
- Social justice
- Environmental protection
Latest News Articles
Fifteen years ago today (12th December 2001), a delegation presented 50,000 Declarations demanding a Cornish Assembly to 10 Downing Street. To mark this anniversary, the Leader of Mebyon Kernow has challenged Westminster political parties to back “meaningful democratic devolution to Cornwall.”In a rallying call to the Mebyon Kernow Annual Conference (19th November 2016), Party Leader Cllr Dick Cole has challenged party members and supporters to redouble their efforts in advance of next year’s local elections.Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall has described the official DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) response to a 10,000-strong petition calling on central government to reinstate funding for the Cornish language as “shameful.” In its reply, DCLG stated that “support for the development of the Cornish language was time-limited” and failed to understand that funding for the language is the responsibility of the Westminster government under Parts 1 and 2 of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages 2002 and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities 2014.A number of leading members of Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall gave evidence at the two-day hearing into new parliamentary constituencies organised by the “Boundary Commission for England” at New County Hall in Truro (on 10th and 11th November).Latest Blog Posts
Following on from our MK National Conference, I have received several requests for the contact details that my son, Dr. Joseph Toms, mentioned at the end of his presentation.
The Department for Communities and Local Government yesterday issued its response to the petition, signed by over 10,000 people, to reinstate funding for the Cornish language.When the United Kingdom Government signed off the so-called Cornwall Devolution Deal in 2015, it claimed that it was "historic" and a “major step” in their commitment to “extend opportunity to every corner of our country.” The Prime Minister David Cameron said the deal would put power in the hands of local people and talked about the “fantastic potential that Cornwall holds.”A group of citizens have put the government to the test by asking the High Court to decide whether Article 50 can be triggered by the government without an Act of Parliament and a preceding debate. The government were somewhat surprised to find that they were not judged to have the right to act alone without consultation. Can the same spirit of citizenship be used to hold the government to account nearer to home?