Cornish will not get a nationality tickbox on 2011 census
December 2, 2009
People living in Cornwall or who were born in Cornwall will not be able to tick a box saying so when the fill in the 2011 census. MPs have rejected a proposal put forward by MP Dan Rogerson from Cornwall North by 261 votes to 69. Rogerson has supported a campaign on the social networking site Facebook called the Cornish Tickbox for the 2011 Census along with 3,000 other people and has been trying to get the move accepted as part of the Draft Census Order 2009 for England and Wales.
The decision not to include a tick box for the Cornish people will mean that they will instead have to tick the box marked ‘other’ and then fill in their Cornish identity by hand. Liberal Democrat Rogerson along with other supporters of the campaign to have a tick box for the Cornish are concerned that instead of realizing that it is possible to write Cornish on the census they will simply choose one of the boxes labeled British, English, Northern Irish, Scottish or Welsh.
MPs have however voted in favour of including new questions in the census which the Tories have said are too intrusive. The survey will now ask people to supply information on how many bedrooms the place they are living in has. It will also ask for descriptions of any people who stay overnight. The Office of National Statistics has defended these questions by pointing out that they could provide valuable information on the spread of the country’s population as well as highlight areas where overcrowding may be a problem.
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