Cornish nation urgent update

 Courtesy a reminder in today's Times:

Grant Cornwall nation status

I'm definitely not a petition signer. I don't think I've ever done so, although maybe in the idealism of my youth, who knows? I don't like following the crowd.

The government's petitions site has this:

Grant Cornwall nation status

We urge the UK Government to formally recognize Cornwall as a nation, granting it equal status to Wales and Scotland. This includes devolved powers, cultural preservation, and official recognition of Cornwall’s distinct heritage, language, and historic autonomy.

Cornwall has a rich cultural and historical identity, distinct from the rest of England, with its own language, Kernewek, and heritage. Despite being part of the UK, Cornwall's history as a Duchy reflects its unique status. We think granting Cornwall nation status would preserve its culture, promote self-governance, and could empower its people to address local issues.

No mention of flags or rugby.

When I checked this on my phone yesterday, over breakfast, there were 22,986 signatures, now 23,182.

Note: does "signatures" mean signatories? Could this be my next door neighbour voting 23,182 times? If I click on "Sign this petition" to find out, will I have voted?

I did it. There's a form. You have to be a British citizen or UK resident and enter your postcode and email address.  Doesn't seem foolproof but then maybe only fools would do it. I didn't continue.

Because the petition has more than 10,000 signatures, the government has to give a written response. The site says "Waiting for 44 days for a government response". Don't hold your breath.

If it gets to 100,000 signatures (unlikely as there are only two days to go), the "petition will be considered for debate in Parliament".

The petition was supported by Cornwall council, run by a LibDem-led coalition, by 53 votes to 22, as part of a fight to prevent a combined mayoral authority with Devon. Such an authority would access higher levels of devolution and funding, so I'm not clear what's bad about that.

Obviously this is all nonsense. Anything which keeps government on its toes is to be welcomed but this petition wouldn't do that, even if it succeeded in getting to 100,000 signatures. If it does happen, I want to be King. You get to hobnob with other monarchs and pseudo-monarchs, impose tariffs on Prime Minister Farage's England, live in a palace, get a free gardener, start a war, stop a war, get a Nobel Peace Prize. What's not to like?

What to do about Serbia

It has happened multiple times.

In 2007, UEFA fined Serbia €24,000 after fans directed monkey chants at black players during a European Under-21 Championship match against England.

In 2012, again against England Under-21s, Serbia fined €80,000, forced to play the next under-21 match behind closed doors, and several coaches and players banned due to racist chanting and violent scenes.

2013, Under 21s vs Belgium - UEFA ordered parts of the stadium closed, a “No to Racism” banner displayed, and a public anti-racism statement made by the captain, due to monkey chants.

2023 – Euro 2024 qualifier vs Montenegro - Serbian fans directed racist chants at Montenegro. The Football Association of Serbia (FSS) was fined €90,000 and the following home match was played behind closed doors.

June 2024, Gelsenkirchen - UEFA launched an investigation into alleged monkey chants against black England players, plus object-throwing and nationalist banners.

December 2024 – Nations League matches vs Switzerland & Denmark - Serbia’s fans tried to burn an Albanian flag in Switzerland and displayed illicit banners. UEFA fined the FSS €173,000 total (specifically for racist/discriminatory behaviour), banned them from selling tickets to their next two away games, and imposed partial stadium closures.

Enough.

England's men's team play in Belgrade tomorrow night. The England players have reportedly been discussing what to do if racist abuse is directed against their (particularly black) players. There's basically a choice between following UEFA protocols - basically reporting the incidents and the FSS gets more fines and stadium bans - and the nuclear option of just walking off the pitch and refusing to continue, which would probably mean they forfeit the match and lose points.

I don't believe any England fan would blame the players if they did that. Serbia has had 18 years of their supporters behaving like this and the FSS getting "punished" and clearly nothing has worked.

There is the option of the referee suspending, ultimately even abandoning, the match. Which would result in an enquiry followed possibly by the opposing team being awarded a notional 3-0 victory. It's in the regulations but I couldn't find any instance of it happening.

One more occurrence - tomorrow or later - should result in the Serbian national teams being banned from competitive matches for, say, five years. Otherwise nothing will change.

Let's hope nothing happens. 

Footy updates 2025/7

I have to add Arsenal's women's team to our Favourites list to be followed. They are the European champions after all, so it would be rude not to.

Yesterday they started the new Womens Super League season with a resounding victory over WSL newcomers London City Lionesses. It's often said that, when you've been most successful as a sports team, you strengthen even more. If you rest on your laurels, your competitors will make their own improvements and you'll be in danger of stagnating. Arsenal won the Womens Champions League at the end of last season and they have strengthened, most notably making the first £1 million transfer in women's football history by signing19yo Canadian superstar Olivia Smith, who proceeded to justify the fee with an amazing long range goal to get the Gunners going after falling behind to a penalty.

Elsewhere, Wycombe Wanderers hauled themselves out of the relegation zone in League One with a 2-0 win over mid-table Mansfield.

No other club matches for our favourites as it's a tedious international break exemplified by England's struggling win against minnows Andorra. Need to do better.

Things I didn't know #6

I know next to nothing about Victorian and Regency novels. Austen, the Brontës, Eliot, Dickens, Hardy, all that Englishness. Give me The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy any day. I know enough to possibly get by in a pub quiz but that's it. I don't care who Heathcliff was.

Hadley Freeman wrote in today's Sunday Times about Wuthering Heights in a manner which led me to wonder what on earth a "wuther" was. Turns out it's not a wuther, it's to wuther. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines wuther as "to blow with a dull roaring sound". Which pretty much sums up my feelings about Victorian novels.

Someone reads my blog

In June I wrote a blog post about women in chess and in particular why competing only in women's sections of major chess tournaments might inhibit players' progress:

I'd like to see some of the talented young women - and there are many - electing to play Open tournaments rather than taking the "easy way" against their fellow women. And some tournament organisers issuing invitations to women to play against men in a single section rather than a separate section.

And perhaps someone took note. This week and next, a major tournament, the Grand Swiss, is taking place in Samarkand. Which is in Uzbekistan - I had to look that up. That may seem out of the way but not in the chess world - the country has 24 Grandmasters. The "Swiss" by the way refers not to the country but to the tournament format; I've mentioned it before as familiar to croquet players - you play a match then for the next round get paired against someone with the same results/score; eventually the cream rises to the top. Rising young Indian (of course) star Divya Deshmukh, 19 years old, already a Grandmaster and recent winner of the Women's World Cup, elected to play in the Open section.

The Indian Express newspaper reports Divya saying:

Even if I lose all the rounds, I think I will be fine if I learn. Every loss hurts a lot. When you play stronger players continuously, you learn so much even if you lose. You learn about yourself, you learn about what you should and should not do. For me, the result is not that important, more than what I take back from this tournament. This is definitely the strongest open tournament that I have played, I don’t want to say that I am used to getting beaten by these players. I truly enjoy playing in open tournaments, As much as they are difficult, I think it’s a must-have experience and it makes you much, much stronger when you play against people who are way stronger than you to begin with. You learn so much about yourself at such events: like where you’re lacking, where your weaknesses are and how you can improve on those.

Remarkably, Divya is only ranked 14th of the world's top women players but this is clearly a breakthrough season. Having won the World Cup, she has already qualified for the Candidates, the preliminary tournament to decide who challenges reigning world champion Ju Wenjun in 2026. The Grand Swiss is another qualifying competition so I'd guess that normally she'd have played the women's section to attempt to qualify. But she doesn't need to do that so can take this bold step. I'll let you know how she gets on.