"Make 2013 the year that MK comes of age"

In my keynote speech to the MK Conference, I covered a range of areas including the failures of the Coalition Government, the values that underpin the policies of Mebyon Kernow, and how MK members could make the difference.

In one section, I condemned the policies of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition, as follows:

“Their crude austerity measures and deep cuts to the public purse pushed the UK back into recession – the first ‘double dip’ recession in decades.

“They have instituted regressive policies, which are impacting most on the less-well-off and the vulnerable.

“They have reinforced what is wrong in the UK – inequality, poverty, a lack of opportunity.

“They have cut benefits for the disabled and forced thousands into a position where they have to rely on foodbanks to survive from week to week.

“The Coalition has sacked police officers, teachers and health workers; and yet, at the same time, they have given tax cuts to millionaires, they have done little to tackle the tax avoidance of their corporate chums, and are continuing to waste millions on nuclear weapons.

“They are even promoting regional pay – so that a worker here in Cornwall, perhaps in the NHS, will get much less than a worker somewhere else for doing exactly the same job – disgracefully reinforcing Cornwall as the ‘low pay’ capital of the UK.”

I also appealed to the Conference to “make 2013 the year that MK comes of age.”  The relevant section of my speech was as follows:

“The political landscape is changing, people are increasingly seeing through the failed promises of the London parties.

“Ours is a party with a great history. Over the last sixty years, hundreds and hundreds of individuals have played an important part in building our movement.

“We owe all these people a great deal and we now have a wonderful opportunity.

“If all the years that went before and all the struggles of our members are to have real meaning, 2013 must be the year when we achieve a real step-change in our profile, make that key breakthrough and get more MK councillors elected than ever before.”