Operation Trelawny - 15 years on

I have neglected to upload my most recent articles in the Cornish Guardian.  The article in the edition dated 3rd July, addressed the announcement that Cornwall will qualify for the next round of European funding. It was as follows:

It is fifteen years ago, this month, that one thousand people marched across the Tamar Bridge, symbolically blocking one of the main entranceways into Cornwall. Known as “Operation Trelawny,” it was the last significant event organised by the pressure group Cornish Solidarity.

The main campaigning plank of the Solidarity movement was the demand for Cornwall to receive European funding to help boost Cornwall’s ailing economy. It was clear to most people that Cornwall should qualify for the funding because Cornwall’s gross domestic product (GDP) was less than 75% of the EU average.

But Cornwall missed out on funding in 1992/1993, when a previous application for has been made on a “Cornwall and Devon” basis.

At this time, Cornwall’s GDP was around 76% of the EU average, which could have triggered many hundreds of millions of pounds of structural funding. But because Cornwall was linked to Devon, the joint figure for GDP came out at 83%.

Cornwall therefore lost out, but Merseyside and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland – with a GDP of 79% of the EU average – won the higher levels of financial support.

Fortunately for the Cornwall, in the late 1990s, the campaign to disaggregate from Devon for statistical purposes was successful. Significant investment was secured and, from 1999 onwards, our local communities, institutions and businesses have benefited from a range of funding programmes including Objective One and Convergence.

The investment certainly helped to boost the local economy and underpinned a number of key projects such as the Combined Universities. And for a number of years, Cornwall’s economy was growing at a faster rate than other regions – albeit from a much lower base.

But that has changed. The most recent figures show that the Cornish economy has struggled during the recent economic downturn. Cornwall’s GDP is now slipping back at a faster rate than other parts of the UK and we also have a lower economic output than Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as some regions in Romania and Bulgaria.

It is therefore very good news that Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will receive further European investment of over €500 million between 2014 and 2020, and we need to maximise the benefit of this money.

That should mean central government also prioritising investment in Cornwall – as one of its two poorest regions – but it is frightening to know that the cuts are taking millions and millions out of the local area, and weakening its economy.

Leanne Wood backs progressive alliance to combat Westminster's austerity-driven consensus

In a speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank on Monday, the leader of Plaid Cymru leader called for the establishment of a new “progressive alliance” in Britain to combat the austerity-driven consensus of the three main London-based parties.

Leanne Wood was rightly critical of the Coalition, as well as the Labour Party which has stated that it would stick to spending plans of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

She argued that a “rainbow alliance for a rebalanced, reindustrialised future” was needed to challenge the political establishment that had failed Wales and large parts of England.

Leanne also mentioned Mebyon Kernow and Cornwall on a number of occasions.

Some quotes of interest are as follows:

“Where you are born has as big an influence on your future life prospects as who you are born to. In this inaptly named United Kingdom, the spatial and the social are inter-twined. Geography has as much influence as class. For those who argue that the north-south divide is an over-simplification I would agree to this extent.
“The compass points of poverty in Britain are marked not just by north but by west too.  The line of disadvantage lies between the South-East of England and the rest, although there are, of course, pockets of acute hidden poverty in almost all communities in all parts of Britain.”

”We would like to see a proper regional policy within the union that would provide clear benefits for the regions and nations. We are less vocal on how England’s governance should be arranged – with the exception of supporting Cornwall's right to self-determination – we believe that what happens in England is a matter for people in England.”

”In Plaid Cymru, we often refer to the London Parties. This piece of political short-hand is of course, by no means a political attack on Londoners. Many of them are victims of the same centripetal politics as we are in Wales.

”Reference to the London parties is an attack on a political system that has enshrined the City of London and spiralling, make-believe property prices at the core of economic policy. For over a century the City of London has given priority to international trade over local lending and investment. This has been reflected in the mindset of our politicians, and in their policies – in investment flows and the allocation of resources. Even where the City of London has supported infrastructure investment it has focused on the needs of London and the South East of England.”

“But, if, like us, you are interested in the balancing of Britain now, this would be a good way to go and would be and a step towards what a previous Leader of Plaid Cymru used to call a Brittanic confederation. It’s what we might call today a new Commonwealth of Britain.

“My party – The Party of Wales – would love to work with an Alliance of progressive forces from all parts of England, as well as those in Cornwall with whom we already have a loose alliance.”

 “In 2010 it was Plaid Cymru (and the SNP) who led the calls for a rainbow alliance of progressives which would have stopped the coalition between the Tories and the Lib Dems. A broad network in England, united behind a core set of progressive values could well include the Greens and other environmentalists. It could include the trade union movement, many in the churches and other faith organisations, the new People’s Assembly movement, our sister party Mebyon Kernow in Cornwall, refugees from Labour and the Lib Dems and, yes, refugees from Respect and the SWP, too.
“The potential for an English left-leaning alliance is enormous – and absolutely critical, for without it, the political void in England will be filled only by the knee-jerk reactionaries of UKIP and their ilk.” 

Cornish Language policy for Truro City Council

Well done to MK councillors Conan Jenkin and Lance Dyer for persuading Truro City Council to adopt a progressive Cornish Language policy. The policy is as below:

St Austell and Newquay Constituency AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the St Austell and Newquay Constituency Party of Mebyon Kernow will be held in St Austell on Thursday 4th July.

Anyone who would like to find out more about becoming a member of Mebyon Kernow is welcome to attend the meeting.  

Please call me on 07791 876607, if you would like to find out more.

Environment, Heritage and Planning PAC

I am delighted to be able to report that I have been elected as Chairman of the Environment, Heritage and Planning Portfolio Advisory Committee on Cornwall Council, and I would like to thank my colleagues for their support.

The committee will have a very busy schedule. Topics include budget pressures caused by government cuts, the Cornwall Local Plan, renewable energy, affordable housing and so much more. There will be much work to do and I will try to keep one and all informed.