As we head towards September, we can look back on what has been a fairly awful August for many living in Cornwall. 

The tourists came, the large scale events occurred and the Covid levels spiralled upwards. 

This has been aggravated by a housing crisis of unparalled proportions which has seen many local people being evicted to make way for tourists and resulted in an open protest by Cornish folks in Truro. 

Inevitably, the anti-Cornish abuse continued and we have received and read in the media reports of locals being assaulted, sworn and spat at.

This becomes particularly nasty when one’s Cornish identity is brought into the insult. 

Even a journalist writing an article for a local newspaper wasn’t excused vitriol.

Every request made of visitors for moderate behaviour and public safety when going to Cornwall drew increasingly abusive responses.

As one Cornish person wrote earlier this year, “This is normal for us. This is the colonialism, bigotry and hatred we face. And we feel alone.”

Some of the vitriol received can be seen in our Insult gallery for this month.

An overflowing inbox!

As July leads into August, our ‘inbox’ has been full of examples of ongoing vitriol and hatred directed at the Cornish people. It really has become systemic and de rigueur to engage in such conduct and until those in authority publicly state that this is unacceptable, we fear matters will only worsen.

This hatred draws on common themes seen time after time, that the Cornish inbreed, that we are a subspecies here to serve others, that we are ignorant and so on. The aim is clear. Massive numbers want to see us put firmly in our place.

This month’s ‘samples’ are set against a background of the England Team in the European Cup football competition, reports of rising Covid rates in Cornwall, reports of local people being assaulted by tourists and of the housing crisis in Cornwall where second homes and massed tourism are impacting on Cornish lives.

A leaked report from Treliske hospital which disclosed that nurses and doctors there were being abused and with many reduced to tears at the hands of holidaymakers has resulted in a bow wave of anti-Cornish hate.

Cornish people have directly reported being the personal victims of race hate and this is truly alarming and distressing.

Even comments by the Bishop of Truro in respect of the scourge of second homes and the impact of over-tourism on Cornish and our communities have resulted in hateful comments.

Just a few examples are attached because this month, it has been impossible to cope with the overwhelming amount of anti-Cornish hatred.