St Piran's Day Message

In my St Piran’s Day Message, I have challenged political parties active in Cornwall to do more to achieve the “meaningful devolution of political powers to Cornwall.” My statement states:

“Last year, the people of Wales voted overwhelmingly to increase the powers of the Welsh Assembly, and the SNP won a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament. There will therefore be a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.

“There is clearly a desperate need for a mature, respectful and wide-ranging debate about the future of the whole of the United Kingdom, and how it is governed.

“And surely now is the time to address the unequal constitutional relationships between the various nations and regions of the UK, and to tackle the centralising influence of London and the South East of England.

“It is to be welcomed that some MPs in the North of England are again seeking directly elected regional government for the north.

“But here in Cornwall, even our political integrity and territoriality is under threat, with central government planning to impose a cross-Tamar constituency.”

I have written to the local representatives of the three main London-centred parties, challenging them to follow the lead of Mebyon Kernow in campaigning for greater powers for Cornwall.

The letters note that: “We need to put Cornwall at the heart of the debate about the future governance of the United Kingdom and to achieve the devolution of meaningful devolution of political powers to Cornwall.”