THERE’S just one week left to add your signature to a parliamentary petition calling for a tick box for "Cornish" to be added to the 2031 census as a national identity option.

The petition has received just over 5,440 signatures, but needs 10,000 signatures by September 24 for a government response.

Created by Johnny Phillips, the petition has seen support from political party Mebyon Kernow, Cornish language society Agan Tavas and Cornwall Council leader Cllr Leigh Frost, who said: “We are the UK's fifth nation and we have our own distinct heritage, culture and identity. We deserve to be recognised on an equal footing."

It's not the first time there has been a petition for a Cornish tick box - the Cornish "Tick Box Bus" attended events in Cornwall ahead of the 2021 census, which did not offer a tick box but invited people to identify as Cornish (and other nationalities) via a manual drop-down box. Around 117,350 people - 18.1 per cent of Cornwall's population – did so.

But Mr Phillips would rather see a tick box than “people being forced to write it in the ‘Other’ category”. This request is backed by Perran Moon, Labour MP for Camborne Redruth and Hayle and “proud Cornishman”, who asked a question on the floor of the House of Commons to the Leader of the House about a potential tick box.

“We know from precedents in Wales that if people are given the opportunity to simply tick a box, they are far more likely to do so,” he said. “If a significant number do this, then this provides the statistical evidence politicians need to call for further devolution and investment in Cornish language, culture and heritage.”

If the petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it; if 100,000 sign, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

Find the petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/761116.