THE leader of Cornwall Council, John Pollard, has expressed his opposition to the creation of a cross border constituency between Cornwall and Devon, which could potentially join Launceston, Bude and Bideford.

The proposal would see the towns of Launceston and Bude join together with Bideford, creating a new constituency crossing the historic border between Cornwall and Devon for the first time in Cornwall’s history.

Mr Pollard has written to the government, criticising the proposal put forward by the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England.

At a recent full council meeting on May 17, the council wrote to the Minister for Constitutional Reform, John Penrose, and the Parliamentary Boundary Commission, expressing the strong opposition to the proposal and asking for an urgent meeting to state its case for ensuring that all Cornwall’s parliamentary constituencies are wholly within the Duchy.

Mr Pollard said: “We believe there is a serious legal and constitutional conflict between the provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, which requires MPs to represent the same number of electors, and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

“The government’s recognition of the Cornish as a national minority under the Framework Convention in 2014 came after the Act came into force, and we are arguing that the Act needs amending to address this conflict.”

Adding that the Boundary Commission had said there was nothing they could do as they were required to comply within the provisions of the Act, Mr Pollard said he would be meeting with group leaders at the end of the month to determine the council’s strategy to oppose the proposal, including mounting a robust defence of the council’s position at the Boundary Commission consultation meetings due to be held in November in Exeter and Truro.

Confirming his opposition to the proposal, Mr Pollard has now written to Chris Skidmore, the newly appointed Minister for the Constitution, reinstating the council’s demand for a change in the law and repeating his request for an urgent meeting.

Mr Pollard added: “There are cultural, legal, geographic and political reasons to maintain our border in terms of Parliamentary representation. We must work with the community to co-ordinate the opposition to this proposal.”

Additionally, the Grand Bard of Cornwall, Merv Davey, has also expressed deep concern over the proposal. He said: “This proposal ignores Cornwall’s history, culture, distinct constitutional status and 1,000 year old border. Importantly, it also contradicts the government’s official recognition in 2014 of the Cornish as a national minority alongside Wales and Scotland.”

Urging an immediate change to legislation, the Grand Bard has conveyed his concern that the proposal also undermines the democratic process enshrined in Cornwall Council’s Devolution Deal agreed only recently with the government.

He added: “I believe it would be relatively straightforward for central government to change this legislation, and I would strongly encourage all those who love Cornwall to write to their local MP urging this simple change.

“Only a few months ago, the government agreed ‘emergency’ legislation to extend the deadline for people seeking to register to vote in the referendum on the European Union following the failure of its registration website.

“The legislation has been drawn up based on statistics which are totally inconsistent with the government’s recognition of the Cornish under the 2014 European Framework Convention for National Minorities. A simple amendment would restore consistency and recognition under the Framework Convention and still be within the spirit of the Constituencies Act.”

In the meantime, council officers will be studying all the proposals in detail and working with members to draw up a comprehensive and robust response in respect of all issues for submission to the consultation hearings in November.