GREATER SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR “THE CORNWALL WE WANT”

In my article in tomorrow’s Cornish Guardian, I have written about the unitary authority’s latest consultation exercise and I have called on one and all to be ambitious and demand our own National Assembly or Parliament. The full article is as follows:

Cornwall Council is presently holding what it hopes will be its “biggest ever listening project.” It is titled “The Cornwall We Want,” and comes at a time of great uncertainty as we face considerable challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is very sad to see enterprises such as the Eden Project laying off so many of their staff and some businesses not re-opening after the lockdown. And it is scary to see projections from economists that suggest between 66,800 and 72,800 jobs in Cornwall are under threat, while a number of Cornish towns have been identified as locations likely to be worst affected by the crisis.

Other worrying statistics show that there has been a 400% increase in applications for free school meals and a 140% rise in requests for council tax support.

It is right that the unitary authority is seeking the views of Cornish residents as politicians and others grapple with what is described as “recovery and renewal.”

The arguments coming out of the Council point out that surveys show “nine in ten people do not want to go back to the old normal” and that there is an “unprecedented level of public demand for change.” It argues that there is a pressing need to “create a more resilient society, where prosperity is truly shared, and is decoupled from ecological and climate breakdown.”

In addition, the leadership of the Council claims that it is “building a strong ‘yes for Cornwall’ case for devolution of the powers and funding” needed to deliver recovery and renewal. They add that we can build a better Cornwall “by giving people a greater say over decisions that affect them” and how “we also need to create a more equal power partnership with Whitehall, with greater local control over the levers and funding for Cornwall to flourish.”

They claim that we need to be bold, but nonetheless seem fixated on Cornwall’s present “unitary governance model” of local government and entities such as the unelected Leadership Board – which isn’t very ambitious at all!

I will be arguing that if people in Cornwall are serious about meaningful devolution, we need to be building the case for a new democratic deal, similar to those enjoyed in Wales and Scotland, with our own National Assembly or Parliament.

I hope you will agree with my perspective on devolution, but whatever your views, please visit https://letstalk.cornwall.gov.uk/ to have your say.