On the tenth anniversary of a 50,000 signature petiton demanding a Cornish Assembly being handed to 10 Downing Street, Mebyon Kernow has renewed its demands for action. Party leader Cllr Dick Cole has called on David Cameron and Nick Clegg to meet a delegation from Cornwall.

He hopes to see detailed proposals for a Cornish Assembly to be developed and a referendum arranged for the near-future.

He has also written to Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party.

Cllr Cole, who authored the declaration and was part of the 2001 delegation to Downing Street, said: “Getting over 50,000 people to show their support for a Cornish Assembly in less than twenty months was a truly amazing achievement, and the declarations continue to represent a great statement of intent from the ordinary people of Cornwall.

“It remains a disgrace that Tony Blair’s Labour Government, which supported devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, ignored the declarations and refused to consider demands for greater powers for Cornwall.

“But since 2001, the aspirations of the 50,000 signatories have been undermined and persistently devalued by the actions of the London-centred parties and their leaders.

“The Liberal Democrats walked away from the campaign and, with the backing of the Labour Government, they pushed through the creation of a single unitary authority in the face of massive opposition.

"They even had the brass neck to attempt to promote this centralisation of local government by using the language of devolution.

“And now, we even have the Conservative-led Coalition Government further undermining democracy in Cornwall by pushing through plans for a Devon and Cornwall parliamentary constituency.”