Blair gets Cornish assembly call

Tony Blair is being asked to allow a Cornish assembly

About 50,000 declarations calling for a Cornish assembly are being handed to Downing Street.

The call for a regional version of the Scottish and Welsh "parliaments" has been signed by 10% of Cornwall's electorate.

They want a greater say in how Cornwall is governed, with an assembly enabling the "right democratic priorities to be set for the county".

The declarations were due to be handed to Downing Street on Wednesday by the leader of the Cornish Constitutional Convention.

The group was formed to 18 months ago to campaign for an assembly - Senedh Kernow in the Cornish language.

Campaigners have adopted St Piran's flag

Convention chairman Bert Biscoe said the declarations were "the biggest single expression of public support for regional devolution.

"Mr Blair has said devolution will only occur where there is public support."

Cornwall was a "distinctive" region, he said.

"People say that Cornwall is too small - all the evidence shows that size is immaterial."

He pointed to a £700m regeneration programme paid for from Europe as evidence of the county's stature.

Scottish leader

"A region is not determined by size, but by its ability to be successful," said Mr Biscoe.

Last month, Scottish deputy first minister Jim Wallace was invited to address the annual meeting of the Cornish Constitutional Convention in Bodmin.

Liberal Democrats in Cornwall backed the call for an assembly, but the county's Labour party decided against it.

The campaign for an assembly was launched on St Piran's day 2000.