The co-founder of the Eden Project has caused a stir by suggesting that Cornish people are not articulate and are overly fond of looking back to imaginary “good old days”.
Speaking on a podcast focusing on social issues in Cornwall, where the attraction is situated, Sir Tim Smit bemoaned the fact that people who spoke about the county were sometimes criticised as “arrogant” if they are not Cornish themselves.
Smit, who was born in the Netherlands and moved to Cornwall in 1987, said: “You feel, I don’t, but you feel like saying, well if you were a bit more fucking articulate you could speak up yourself but you haven’t.”
He went on: “You’ve all got mums who made the best pasties in the world and it’s fantastic and it’s fabulous and you talk about the good old days and the good old days never were the good old days.
“They’ve been bad for about 70 years and they’ve been bad because of tossers like you and that’s what I would actually say to quite a lot of Cornish people.
“I really would because you cannot define your life in terms of what you don’t like. You’ve got to actually define your life sometimes in terms of the sunny uplands you would like to aspire to.”
Many people have expressed their anger on social media, with one critic asking why, if Cornwall was so bad, he came in the first place, another saying that an articulate person would not need to use bad language to get their point across.
One person said: “Well he can leave anytime. Happy to take our money though isn’t he?”
Another added: “His comments are hateful”, and a third: “People like you will never understand Cornwall, and you’ll never be accepted.”
Others said they were pleased that at least it had caused a debate. “I completely get what Tim Smit’s saying here and I also get how some Cornish people have reacted,” said one commentator. “At least it’s forced another conversation about the real Cornwall.”
Seamas Carey, the performer and composer behind the podcast, told the Guardian: “I’m aware that [the] comments have ruffled the feathers of many people in (and out of) Cornwall. To my surprise, extracts of what Tim said were turned into a meme at surprising speed. He’s sparked debates in many households.
“It’s good to remember that Tim’s made big things happen in Cornwall, of which many people have benefited from. He’s a canny businessman, with a confident style.”
Smit said he was “sorry that some of the comments I made in the podcast have caused offence”. He said he was speaking in the context of defending his friend, the restaurant owner and food writer Rick Stein. “My strongest words were directed at people who seek to damn him for making Cornwall attractive to outsiders.”
He went on: “I wasn’t intending to comment on Cornish people as a whole, rather some of those who would tell you that the past was better than now when the truth is different; it was not.
“Cornwall has been my home for more than 30 years and I don’t want a few harsh words on my part to damage the many friendships I’ve made in a place I love.”
