CORNWALL

Before the Romans and Anglo-Saxons came, the island of Britain was populated by Celts. Since the newcomers were militarily stronger, the indigenous people (well, those who weren't enslaved or impregnated) were forced more and more to the west and north, into what is now Wales and Scotland.

And Cornwall. Cornwall was so far away from anywhere else important that it was left alone, with a lot of tin, strong links to Brittany (also a Celtic area), and its own Celtic language, which is now undergoing something of a revival.

That revival is likely to be boosted even further by today's announcement that Cornish people are to be designated a "minority" in the United Kingdom, in the same way that the Welsh, Scots and Irish are. They won't get any more money; but under the E.U.'s Charter of Fundamental Rights, Government bodies will have to take their views into account when taking decisions, and not discriminate against them.

A modest step, but a good one, in my view.

Walter Blotscher