Thursday 28 November 2013

My monthly report to St Enoder Parish Council

At the November meeting of St Enoder Parish Council, I presented my monthly report as a Cornwall Councillor. It covered the period 19th October – 22nd November and was as follows:

1.         Council meetings

I have attended a range of meetings over the last month. These included: Full Council; China Clay Area Network; Environment, Heritage and Planning Portfolio Advisory Committee (PAC) (and an associated informal meeting plus two pre-agenda briefings/meetings); Finance and Resources PAC; Strategic Planning (2) and associated technical briefing on the proposed Coyte Farm development near St Austell; Transport and Waste PAC (and an associated informal meeting).

As the Chairman of the Environment, Heritage and Planning PAC, I also attended the launch of the Local Nature Partnership.

2.         Other meetings

I also attended a range of meetings about the future of LEADER funding in the period 2015-2020. I chaired a Community-led Local Development working group (CLLD) and attended two Local Action Group meetings, a meeting with DEFRA officials in Bristol and a further DEFRA consultation in Truro.

Local meetings attended included Indian Queens Victory Hall Committee, Indian Queens Pit Association, and the Board of ClayTAWC (the Training and Work Centre for the China Clay Area).

3.         Improvements at Indian Queens Primary School

In my last report, I informed members how investment in eight Cornish schools (including Indian Queens Primary School) though the Government’s Targeted Basic Need Programme had turned out to be much less than anticipated.

Discussions are ongoing about the shortfall in funding for the necessary improvements at Indian Queens Primary School, and how the Council can move forward. I have been in regular contact with the headteacher at the school and senior officers at the Council.

When I have further news to report, I will let members of the Parish Council know as soon as possible.

4.         Budget cuts

There have been ongoing meetings to address the budget pressures facing Cornwall Council, caused by massive reductions in funding from central government and rising costs. The Council anticipates making cuts of £44 million from its 2014-2015 budget, based on the assumption of a 1.97% increase in council tax. At October’s Full Council, there was a proposal to investigate the possibility of a 6% increase (that would need to go to a referendum). I supported this proposal, but it was heavily defeated.

5.         New Chief Executive

At the end of October, Cornwall Council appointed Andrew Kerr as its new Chief Executive. The Mebyon Kernow group was not represented on the panel, and we received no official briefings about the interview process or the reasons for the recommendation that Mr Kerr be appointed. At the Council meeting, I therefore declined to support the ratification of his appointment at Full Council by abstaining.

6.         Indian Queens Victory Hall

I would like to thank the Parish Council for supporting the Indian Queens Victory Hall Committee with a short-term cashflow loan to allow them to purchase 119 new chairs and 9 tables, and access grant funding from the Clay Country Local Action Group increased. The chairs and tables have been purchased, they are already in use, and the final claim made to the Clay Country LAG. The loan from the Parish Council will therefore be repaid within the next five weeks.

7.         Continuing pressure

I am continuing to chase up on a number of issues. This includes flooding issues, the ongoing pressure on South West Water to address the surcharge of waste from the foul water sewer at Trevarren, road markings and the planned surface dressing through Indian Queens and Fraddon, as well as the adoption of the open space at Lindsay Fields, Fraddon. I am disappointed that the planned tidy-up of the entrance into Heather Meadow has not yet happened and I have contacted the necessary officers to seek assurances that the work will be done in the near-future.

8.         Youth Club

Along with Cllr Bunyan, I met with Carol Fitzpatrick of Cornwall Council on 21st October to discuss what support the unitary authority would be willing to give to St Enoder Parish to run a youth club for teenagers. I am pleased that the St Enoder Youth Club will be reconvened on Wednesday 27th November with the support of two youth workers from Cornwall Council. I hope that we will be able to work with Cornwall Council to make this initiative a success into the long-term.

9.         Public Inquiry into closure of New Road, Fraddon

Since the last meeting of the Parish Council, I have attempted to assist the two main parties (Kingsley Developers and Julian and Son) in coming to a compromise based around a new access road to Mr Julian’s premises. I have offered to be a go-between, but I cannot report that any progress on this issue has been made in advance of the Inquiry timetabled for later this week.

10.       Affordable housing

On October 28th, I was very pleased to be able to officially open the new(ish) Ocean Housing affordable housing scheme at Mowhay Meadows and Martha’s Meadow in Fraddon. As well as performing the ribbon cutting duties, I also judged a well-contested pumpkin carving competition.  

11.       Global day of action against incineration

I also attended a demonstration at New County Hall in support of zero waste. A motion challenging Cornwall Council’s approach to waste management was debated at a recent PAC, which I attended and I also contributed to the debate.

12.       Remembrance Day

I was privileged to lay a wreath at St Enoder Churchtown, along with Cllr Bennett who laid a wreath on behalf of the Parish Council.

As we look forward to 2014 – the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War – I would like to inform members of this Council that I have started work on a book about our area and the First World War.

I am researching the lives of servicemen from Fraddon, Indian Queens, St Columb Road and Summercourt who were killed or died in the Great War, and whose names are remembered on local war memorials. I am also researching the narrative of how thirteen men, who worked at the Trewheela China Clay Works near Fraddon, collectively joined the Territorial Force of the Royal Engineers in August 1914.

13.       Inquiries

Throughout the last month, I have also helped numerous people with advice and guidance on a range of issues.

Monday 25 November 2013

MK launch new campaign initiative for Cornish Assembly

Mebyon Kernow has launched a new initiative pushing for a legislative Assembly for Cornwall and launched a new campaign.

The Party for Cornwall has produced a statement titled: “A law-making Assembly for Cornwall,” which demands more powers for Cornwall, and it will be encouraging politicians, organisations and individuals to sign up to the campaign.

With the people of Scotland going to the polls in September 2014 to vote on full independence, and the Welsh Assembly gaining extra powers in recent weeks, constitutional change is increasingly high on the political agenda. 
We hope that the "A law-making Assembly for Cornwall" initiative will bring people together in support of meaningful devolution for Cornwall and put pressure on central government to deliver a new democratic settlement for Cornwall.

The full statement reads:

A law-making Assembly for Cornwall

Cornwall is an historic nation with its own identity, culture, traditions and language. We believe the people of Cornwall have the same democratic right to self-determination as the residents of Scotland and Wales.

In 2001, over 50,000 individual declarations calling for a Cornish Assembly were presented to 10 Downing Street. But the Government, which had delivered devolution settlements to Scotland and Wales, ignored the declarations and refused to consider demands for greater powers for Cornwall.

Cornwall deserves better.

It is our view that the unequal constitutional relationship between the various nations and regions of the UK need to be addressed. And we believe that this should include meaningful devolution to Cornwall.

We call on central government to work with the people of Cornwall to formulate a detailed proposal for a law-making Cornish Assembly, which can then be put to the electorate in a binding referendum.


Copies of the document can be downloaded from the MK website at www.mebyonkernow.org.

Coalition councillors and the cuts ...

My article in this week’s Cornish Guardian (published on Wednesday), builds on comments that I made at MK’s 2013 Conference. It will be as follows:

In my keynote speech at Mebyon Kernow’s Annual Conference, which took place last week, I challenged Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors to walk away from respective parties in protest at central government cuts.

The comment has certainly generated a fair amount of feedback. Some people thanked me for what I had to say, while others have criticised me for “playing politics.”

But I believe it was important that I made the challenge I did.

Coalition cuts to local government are truly disproportionate – and they are undermining the ability of councils to provide those public services that individuals, families and communities have a right to expect.

I honestly believe that David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Eric Pickles are continuing to slash funding to local government, because opposition to the cuts from their own local councillors is not strong enough.

That is why I – somewhat cheekily – suggested that if Conservative or Liberal Democrat councillors were serious about stopping or reducing the extent of the cuts, they could send a strong message to the Coalition by walking away from their respective parties.

It cannot be denied that if the local government base of their parties was reduced, the Government would change direction - that is, after all, the sort of decisive political message that the likes of Cameron, Clegg and Pickles would understand.

I know that most councillors – of all political parties and none – are extremely angry at the unpalatable position in which they find themselves, trying to bridge black-hole after black-hole in local budgets.

But when Cornwall Council considers budget matters, it sometimes seems that there is even a denial about the impact of the massive cut in funding from their own Coalition Government.

Local Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors seem more concerned about engaging in the normal, day-to-day, political theatre of County Hall, trying to out-do each other for some local political gain – even arguing about who is best at taking “difficult decisions.”

There are a total of 67 councillors on Cornwall Council who are members of parties of the Coalition. They would surely wield significant influence and power if they, with their colleagues from around the whole of the UK, challenged the austerity cuts of their own Government.

The question is: will they stand up to central government or be complicit in the damage being imparted on to Cornwall.

Sunday 24 November 2013

Mike Champion for Camborne and Redruth

Mebyon Kernow has selected its first candidate for the next General Election.

Local members have selected Cllr Mike Champion, the current Mayor of Camborne, to stand in the Camborne and Redruth constituency in 2015.


Well done to Mike on his selection. For further information, see www.mebyonkernow.org.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Privileged classes are punishing the struggling poor for the sins of the rich

I am very pleased that my fellow columnist for the Cornish Guardian, Andrew Gordon, has this week written an article which follows on from comments in the Cornish Guardian. The article is as follows:

I can’t help agreeing with Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole after he told members at the party's annual conference that the privileged classes who run this country are punishing the less well-off for the massive financial mistakes made by business leaders who continue to rake in millions a year in "bonus'' payments.

Mr Cole was right when he said the Government was using the financial and economic crisis as an excuse to wield an ideological axe against the public sector when the problems were very much caused by the private sector, which is carrying on as normal, unscathed, and getting wealthier by the day.

Look at escalating energy bills, look at bankers continuing to receive huge bonuses.

Then look at the cuts enforced on local authorities which these days don't seem to be able to spend a penny on keeping even public toilets open.

Look at the mean-spirited bedroom tax which has so far seen 8,000 people in Cornwall and Devon hit by cuts to their housing benefit.

The Government says the penalty is to encourage people with a spare room to move into smaller properties – and that just about sums up what the millionaire classes think of ordinary people.

The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not to mention the Mayor of London, were once members of Bullingdon Club at Oxford University, an exclusive society for privileged undergraduates. It is claimed members behaved loutishly in the full knowledge that they had funds available to cough up for any bills.

Tory governments have always been the domain of the privileged classes, but our current leaders seem acutely out of touch with the realities of life for the majority of people in this country.

A cynic would even say they simply don't care.

Coalition shame on "bedroom tax"

My article in this week’s Cornish Guardian focused on the “bedroom tax” – following the recent Commons vote. It is as follows:

Thousands of people continue to campaign against the “bedroom tax,” but the majority of MPs are not listening.

The Coalition has decided that working-age tenants in council / housing association properties – who have a spare bedroom and claim housing benefit – should have their benefits slashed.

The Conservative-led Government continues to claim that their “under-occupancy penalty” will “encourage” families living in larger properties to move elsewhere, allowing better use to be made of social housing and to reduce the housing benefit bill.

But the “bedroom tax” is a nonsensical shambles. There are simply not enough smaller social housing properties for families to downsize into, while families forced out of social housing and into the private sector will end up paying higher rents, which will actually increase the amount of housing benefit being paid!

Last week, MPs debated the “bedroom tax” and many tenants attended. One disabled lady sat in the public gallery and could not contain her anger. It was widely reported that she ended up shouting at the MPs.

But it was hardly surprising. Wheelchair bound, she lives with her husband and son in a three-bed home that had been specially adapted with a wetroom and stairlift to help her cope with a degenerative back problem. She uses her “spare room” to store her mobility equipment, though it is sometimes used as a bedroom when one of her daughters visit. But, in spite of this, her housing benefit has been reduced by £17 a week.

In the Commons debate, only two Coalition MPs voted to end the “bedroom tax,” one of whom was St Ives MP Andrew George. He condemned the so-called “spare room penalty” as “immoral,” and it is well worth reading what he had to say in more detail

He said “it victimises the most marginalised in our communities, undermines family life, penalises the hard-working low-paid for being prepared to stomach low-paid work, masks the excessive cost and disruption to those disabled who have to move from expensively adapted homes and is, in my view, Dickensian in its social divisiveness.”

Well said. It is just extremely disappointing that all the other MPs from Cornwall ignored what he had to say and continued to demonstrate their support for the “bedroom tax.” Shame on George Eustice, Stephen Gilbert, Sheryll Murray, Sarah Newton and Dan Rogerson.

The motion calling for the abolition of the “bedroom tax” was defeated by 252 to 226.

Saturday 16 November 2013

My speech at today's MK Conference

Thank you to everyone who attended today’s Mebyon Kernow Conference, held in Truro. For those of you that couldn’t make it, my keynote speech was as follows:

We started today’s gathering by remembering two stalwarts of the Cornish movement – Graham Symmons and Tony Piper. I would also like to add a few words.

I will always fondly remember Graham, popping around to my home for an evening – always armed with a gift of a bottle of port.

I will be forever thankful to him for the many years that he was our treasurer, and worked so hard in the background, carrying out the thankless task of keeping our books in something resembling good order.

And Tony Piper – we should celebrate his dedication to Cornwall through the wide range of organisations he was involved with, such as the Celtic Congress, Gorseth and Cornish Solidarity.

At the forefront of many a march – always with kilt and flag – Pipes was a true and faithful standard-bearer for Cornwall and its identity.

Conference, as we look forward today – keep Graham and Tony in your thoughts. And please consider how you can follow in their footsteps, and also champion Cornwall at every opportunity.


At this point, I would like to take a few moments to look back over the last twelve months and take stock – particularly, of how we fared in the May elections.

We achieved a creditable series of results and the average vote-share of our candidates was up significantly – 24% - much higher than the 17% achieved in 2009, and four MK councillors were elected to Cornwall Council.


I am particularly proud that all three of Mebyon Kernow’s sitting Cornwall Councillors – who stood for re-election – successfully defended their seats and increased their share of the vote.

Obviously, I was especially pleased to be re-elected to serve my home parish for a fifth term.

And it was wonderful to see Andrew Long and Loveday Jenkin get back to County Hall with resounding wins. Andrew achieved 61% of the vote in Callington, while Loveday got 55% in Crowan & Wendron.

But the highlight of the election campaign was the victory of my good friend Matt Luke in Penwithick & Boscoppa.

Matt is MK’s second unitary councillor in Clay Country – an area where – in May – Mebyon Kernow received more votes than any other political party.

But it is right that we should be disappointed that we did not get more councillors elected to the unitary authority, though we did come tantalisingly close to a significant breakthrough.

Five MK candidates missed out by a handful of votes. If just 140 voters in five divisions had voted for Mebyon Kernow, we would have won nine seats.

Today, I would like to complement three colleagues – three first-time candidates – who worked so hard and came so close.

Fiona Carlyon. Fiona stood in Fowey & Tywardreath, and fought a truly outstanding campaign – for example, opposing an inappropriate supermarket development and challenging the failure of Cornwall Council to maintain play equipment in her area. She won 477 votes and was only 13 votes away from success.

Rod Toms. Rod stood in Newlyn & Goonhavern. He built up a committed team, and fought a long and energetic campaign. He polled 529 votes and finished just 26 votes behind the winner.

And in Illogan, Stephen Richardson. Steve is one of our most active parish councillors and he knocked on almost every single door in his division. A fantastic achievement, Steve garnered 290 votes and missed out by only 41 votes.

The efforts of Fiona, Rod and Steve should be applauded by us here today. It shows how we can win significant numbers of votes through good old-fashioned hard work.

I would like to thank them, all the unitary candidates who stood, everyone who helped out with the leafleting and canvassing.

I would also like to congratulate the twenty-six MK members who were elected to town and parish councils as official party candidates.

I see many of you here today. You are the very bedrock of our Party and you are punching well above your weight.

We have Phil Rendle – this year – re-elected as the Mayor of Penzance for a second term.

Mike Champion – elected as the Mayor of Camborne. A first for Mebyon Kernow.

Derek Collins – chosen as the Deputy Mayor of St Austell. Another first for MK.

And Andrew Long – chosen as the Deputy Mayor / Deputy Portreeve of Callington. Not a first for MK – he has been there and done it all before.

Such progress should give us hope for the future of our Party.

In the May elections, the potential depth of MK support was shown by the number of votes achieved by our candidates in multi-member town council wards – where people had more than one vote.

Support was significantly higher than that achieved in the unitary contests for the same areas.

In Camborne Trelowarren, the Conservative candidate was elected to Cornwall Council with 243 votes – but in the town council election, Zoe Fox won over 300 votes for MK – equivalent to nearly 40% of voters.

In Penzance East, the Labour victor managed 378 votes. And yet in the town council election, Rob Simmons secured over 400 votes for MK – the support of around 35% of local voters.

People are increasingly voting MK. And our challenge – as we go forward – is to make MK the number one choice for voters in “first-past-the-post” unitary and parliamentary elections.

I would also like to mention those members who – this year – took decisions to stand down from local councils.

Helene and Stuart Cullimore in Camborne, Michael Hall in Redruth, Heather Jones and Chris Thomas in Callington, Rob Stott in St Columb and Tamsin Williams in Penzance.

It is right that we – collectively – thank them all for the manner in which they have served Cornwall with great distinction.


Friends – exactly 100 years ago – in 1913, the men and women of the China Clay Area came together to demand union recognition and fairer wages.

They refused to accept their poverty, they stood up to the owners of the clayworks, and they demanded better.

They bravely went out on strike, they withstood great hardship for their rights, and the future prospects of their families and all those that were to come in the future.

MK has long celebrated the spirit of the clay strikers and today, we again honour the workers of Carne Stents, Kernick and Trethosa; of Virginia, Bugle and the whole Clay Area.

Without such working class heroes across the whole of Britain, pressure would never have been exerted on those in authority to improve the working and social conditions of ordinary people.

And it is due to such men and women that, over the last ten decades, significant progress was made – yes, in terms of working conditions and wages – but also improvements in suffrage, in welfare, better housing, council housing, new public services, and the National Health Service.

These are fundamental gains that we should be proud of, and these are gains that we should be seeking to protect.

But now, in 2013, the whole fabric of our society is under relentless attack from the Conservative / Liberal Democrat Coalition.

The Coalition is using the financial and economic crisis – caused by bankers, an over-heating housing market, irresponsible lending and the failure of the Westminster class to regulate the financial sector – as an excuse to wield an ideological axe to turn a crisis caused by the private sector into a crisis for the whole of the public sector.

The Coalition Government with its Cabinet of millionaires is pushing policy after policy that are impacting most negatively on the less-well-off, those in need of housing, and those struggling on below a living wage.

It has introduced the cruel “bedroom tax.”

You have seen the horror stories – such as the man who relies on a kidney dialysis machine, stored in a small box bedroom in his tiny flat and who, as a consequence of the bedroom tax, will lose £60 a month in benefits.

Four days ago, one of Cornwall’s MPs described the “bedroom tax” as “victimising the most marginalised” in society and “Dickensian in its social divisiveness.”

The other five of Cornwall’s six MPs voted to continue with this immoral tax. They should be thoroughly ashamed.

The Coalition Government has imposed the most savage welfare cuts, shredding the safety net so vital for a civilized society.

It localised council tax benefit – but not before it shaved off £5 million – leading to another massive financial shortfall for Cornwall Council … leaving people, previously considered too poor to pay council tax, having to find £300 - £400 a year.

The Coalition Government has given tax cuts to millionaires, while poverty around them has exploded and the pressure on food banks has grown and grown.

And it continues to undermine the public ethos of the NHS and it has privatised many of our vital public services – including the helicopter search and rescue service and  Royal Mail.

Margaret Thatcher declined to privatise the Royal Mail. I believe she rather famously stated that she was “not prepared” to sell off the Queen’s head.

This Coalition has had no such reservations and they have sold it off at a knock-down price. 

How many people realise that many shares in Royal Mail went to “sovereign wealth funds” in countries as diverse as KuwaitNorway and the United Arab Emirates.

One of the world's biggest hedge funds is reported to have purchased a £50 million stake in the company. Which, because of the under-valuation – after just one day – the holding was apparently worth about £68 million.

This firm just happens to employ George Osborne’s best man.

And this is a firm that, according to news reports, made a profit of “£100 million from the financial crash by betting that the price of Northern Rock would fall,” … while its former chief executive was “awarded a knighthood last year after donating half a million pounds to the Conservative Party.”

Friends. This Government is out of touch, and it is destructive. It is working in the best interests of a small wealthy clique of individuals – and it is actually working against the best interests of those ordinary people that we are proud to represent and to fight for.

And it needs to be said that I can see little difference between any of the three largest London-centred parties – I have little faith in the official opposition at Westminster.

The Labour Party has lost its soul.

This is the Party that – when Plaid Cymru and SNP forced a debate on Tory plans to cut the top rate of tax for the highest earners – it instructed its MPs to abstain in the vote.

It has said that, if it wins the next General Election, it will continue with the Coalition’s spending plans that are devastating communities.

And remember, it took Ed Miliband six months of focus groups before he could confirm that a Labour Government would repeal the bedroom tax.

That is why we need Mebyon Kernow – a party committed to fairness, social justice and environmental protection – to be strong and effective in building an alternative to the London-centred parties that are failing Cornwall.


Friends, as one of Mebyon Kernow’s Cornwall Councillors, I get to deal with the harsh reality of modern politics on a daily basis.

This year, Cornwall Council was working towards cuts of £19 million, but additional reductions in government funding raised that figure by a further £24 million.

Coalition cuts to local government are truly disproportionate – and they are undermining the ability of local councils to provide those public services that individuals, families and communities have a right to expect.

I am fed up of “crocodile tears” from Coalition councillors about the unpalatable position in which elected members find themselves, trying to bridge black-hole after black-hole in local budgets.

Cameron, Clegg and Pickles are slashing funding because Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors are remaining true to their parties – and carrying out the Coalition’s dirty work at a local level.

I have a message for all Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors in Cornwall – you should RESIGN!

I say to them – if they are serious about stopping these cuts, they should send a strong message to the Coalition by walking away from their respective parties.

That would be the sort of decisive political action that the likes of Cameron, Clegg and Pickles would understand.

If the local government base of their parties was reduced, or decimated, the Government would change direction. But while their local councillors remain loyal to the Coalition, they are complicit in the damage being imparted on to Cornwall.

My loyalty is to Cornwall, your loyalty is to Cornwall – and the loyalty of all councillors should also be to Cornwall, not some London-centred political party. 


On 18th September next year, the people of Scotland will go to the polls to vote on whether their country becomes an independent state.

This follows the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, and opponents of independence are already promising more powers to the Scottish Parliament if people vote no.

Make no mistake – this seismic shift in Scotland only happened because of the success of the SNP.

In 1997, the people of Wales voted to create a Welsh Assembly. In 2011, they voted for law-making powers in a second referendum, and earlier this month won further financial powers.

A Commons bill has also been promised, which would give the Welsh Government permission to hold a referendum on the devolution of income tax.

Make no mistake – this great progress has only been made because of the success of our good friends in Plaid Cymru.

But while the devolved administrations have grown in stature and authority, Cornwall has fared less well.

In 2001, we presented 50,000 declarations demanding a Cornish Assembly to 10 Downing Street. It remains a disgrace that Tony Blair’s Labour Government dismissed the declarations and refused to consider demands for greater powers for Cornwall.

Instead, we had the centralisation of local government forced on us, with the creation of a single unitary authority, in the face of massive local opposition.

And since, we have even had the Conservative-led Coalition Government further undermining democracy and the very territoriality of Cornwall by attempting to push through a cross-Tamar parliamentary constituency.

Conference, I have two quotes for you.

Number 1: “I believe in devolution.”

Believe it or not – that was David Cameron.

Number 2: “The United Kingdom has been too London-centric for far too long.”

And believe it or not – that was also David Cameron.

Just like the previous Labour Governments of Blair and Brown, this Coalition crowd speaks a lot about devolution, democracy, localism, local decision-making, local this and local that.

But these are “hollow words” – they are a screen for the same-old, top-down, centralising policies that have undermined Cornwall for decades.

Far from delivering devolution, they have undermined democracy by creating more unelected bodies – which they always term “partnerships” – but actually take power away from democratically elected politicians.

And – just take housing numbers – the Government wants high housing growth in Cornwall and the message from Eric Pickles and his planning inspectors is pretty clear.

Roll over, do what you are told and agree high housing targets: or be over-ruled by the Government anyway.

That is the reality – that is the farce masquerading as democracy in 21st century Cornwall.

But at least Michael Heseltine was honest, on a recent visit to Cornwall

In terms of devolution, he said it was the view of government officials, bureaucrats – and presumably politicians – in London, that “we were not up to it.”

And he also said: “That is why, over decades, they have taken power away” from areas such as Cornwall

What Heseltine said confirms the disrespect with which the metropolitan elite view Cornwall.

They do not lose sleep because our economic performance is only two-thirds of the UK average.

They do not care about the despair of people on certain estates in West Cornwall where over 50% of children are living in poverty.

They are not listening to Cornwall – and all we get from Cameron and his ilk are offensive platitudes.

No doubt, their Cornwall is that same imaginary land they tend to write about in papers such as the Sunday Times.

Remember that most recent article about Cornwall … you know the “playground for the super-rich.”

I quote … “with the drive down from London taking just three hours in a Porsche, Cornwall is becoming something of a millionaire’s paradise.”

And, of course, the timeless … “walking down the beach can sometimes feel like Chelsea-on-Sea.”

We should always keep such nonsense to the forefront of our minds as we campaign.

It should harden our resolve and impress on us that our path is the right one.

And for Cornwall’s sake, we must be determined that the hypocrisy of the London-based political parties is challenged and not allowed to prevail.

And we must ensure that Cornwall can emulate the achievements of Scotland and Wales.


Over the next ten months, the arguments about Scottish independence will increasingly take centre stage in British politics.

We have a responsibility to make sure that this debate is broadened out into a respectful and wide-ranging consideration about the future of the whole of the UK, and how it – and its constituent parts – are governed.

We have to combat the short-sighted refusal of the Coalition to address the unequal constitutional relationship between the various nations and regions of the UK.

We have to combat their refusal to rein in the centralising influence of London and the South East of England.

And we have to make the case for a law-making Cornish Assembly and the meaningful devolution of political powers to Cornwall.

We have to do this – because no-one else will.

When it comes to democratic renewal – the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and Labour – have all turned their backs on Cornwall and their credibility is in tatters.

Friends, it our task to continue to demand a new democratic settlement for Cornwall.

In a few moments, we will consider a new lobbying campaign to push for a Cornish Assembly:

– a campaign through which we can enthuse our members and supporters to take the fight for greater self-government, out into local communities, onto the streets, the length of this land.

- a campaign through which we can encourage local people to raise their eyes and be more ambitious for Cornwall and its future;

- a campaign through which we can rebuild the accord that existed in 2000-2001, when the declaration campaign was at its height;   

- a campaign through which we can challenge organisations and individuals, friends and opponents, to look beyond the status quo and help us deliver home rule for Cornwall.

In the words of MK founder-member, Party Chairman and Life President, Richard Jenkin:

We seek the “re-awakening of the whole Cornish Nation to its continuing identity and constitutional change to safeguard its future existence.”

Join us in this campaign. Join us as we seek to achieve parity with Wales and Scotland – through a legislative Assembly for Cornwall.

Thank you.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Shame - Coalition MPs continue to support immoral "bedroom tax"

I am truly saddened that, yesterday, five of Cornwall’s six MPs refused to back a Common’s proposal that the “bedroom tax” be abolished. Newspaper reports state that only two Coalition MPs voted to end the “bedroom tax,” one of whom was Andrew George.

On this occasion, I have to commend Andrew for his “rebellion” and he was right to condemn the so-called “spare room subsidy” as “immoral,”

He said: "The fact is that this spare room penalty, or the bedroom tax, victimises the most marginalised in our communities, undermines family life, penalises the hard-working low-paid for being prepared to stomach low-paid work, masks the excessive cost and disruption to those disabled who have to move from expensively adapted homes and is, in my view, Dickensian in its social divisiveness.”

Well spoken. Sadly – all the other MPs from Cornwall ignored what Andrew had to say and continued to demonstrate their support for the “bedroom tax.” Shame on George Eustice, Stephen Gilbert, Sheryll Murray, Sarah Newton and Dan Rogerson

The motion calling for the abolition was defeated by 252 to 226.

Sunday 10 November 2013

Remembering the Great War


Thousands of people attended recent Remembrance Day commemorations across Cornwall, and I was pleased to lay a wreath at my local war memorial in St Enoder Churchtown.

It is my strong belief that everyone needs to fully appreciate the horror of war, and the tragic loss of millions of lives in the two World Wars and other subsequent conflicts.

As we look forward to 2014 – the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War – I believe it is especially important that people should find out more about the lives of the ordinary men who fought in the Great War and, in many cases, did not return to their families.

Numerous publications and events are being planned to commemorate the anniversary. I am gathering information about the men from my local area who fought in the conflict, which I hope to publish in a new book.

One part of this publication will focus on thirteen men who worked at the Trewheela China Clay Works near Fraddon, and together joined the Territorial Force of the Royal Engineers in August 1914.

I understand that they were encouraged to enlist by the Nalder family, who had a large stake in the clayworks at Trewheela, and also had links with the Royal Engineers at Falmouth.

I am trying to find out all that I can about the men and their lives. Their names were Frederick Stanford Biscombe (Summercourt); three brothers Ernest, James and Orlando Brokenshire (Summercourt); my great-grandfather Richard John Cole (Summercourt); Richard Veal Common (Higher Fraddon); Richard Grigg (Ruthvoes); two cousins Charles Bernard Halls and Llewellyn Halls (St Newlyn East); John Harvey (Toldish); Albert Victor Menear (Indian Queens); George Robins (Summercourt) and William Phillips Tippett (Summercourt).

The above photograph includes many of the men.

Ernest Brokenshire was killed in August 1918 while Richard Veal Common, who had transferred to the Tank Corps, lost his life in October 1918. I believe that the others survived the war, though sadly two men died within five years of the end of the war.

I am also researching the lives of servicemen from Fraddon, Indian Queens, St Columb Road and Summercourt who were killed or died in the Great War, and whose names are remembered on local war memorials.

I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has family information or photographs, that might be of use to me. I can be contacted on 07791 876607 or dickcole@btinternet.com.

Friday 8 November 2013

No to incineration

Today was a global day of action against Incineration and in support  of zero waste, and I was very pleased to be able to give my support to a demonstration outside County Hall in Truro.

Affordable housing in Fraddon


This week’s newspapers have featured the official opening of Ocean Housing’s new affordable housing scheme at Mowhay Meadows and Martha’s Meadow in Fraddon. I was very pleased to perform the ribbon cutting duties, and I also judged a well-contested pumpkin carving competition.  

Sunday 3 November 2013

Fair funding for the arts?

In my column in this week’s Cornish Guardian, I have focussed on the report which has shown arts funding is disproportionately spent in London. The article is as follows:

The over-centralised nature of the United Kingdom means that many areas – deemed peripheral by central government – lose out financially to London and the South East of England.

This has been reinforced by the publication of an independent report which reveals a shocking bias towards London in the allocation of public funding for the arts.

Titled “Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital,” the report notes that, in 2012-2013, Arts Council England distributed a total of £320m of taxpayers' money. London received £20 per head of population, compared to £3.60 per person elsewhere.

And last year, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport distributed £450m of public funding to what it deemed “major national cultural institutions.” The figures are truly shocking – the report states that London receives £49 per head of population compared to just £1 per person outside the capital.

Taken together, the figures show that for every sixteen pounds of taxpayers' money allocated to the arts in 2012-2013, fifteen pounds went to London.

But the distribution of such funding is not a one off “blip.” The report demonstrates that such unbalanced expenditure has been the norm for years.

The distribution of Lottery funding also significantly favours London. Arts Council England has had responsibility for £3.5 billion from the National Lottery since 1995, of which London received £165 per head of population compared to £47 elsewhere.

Such inequity cannot – in any way – be justified, and this compelling new report rightly argues that “there is a need for geographically proportionate distribution [of funding] related to size of population.”

It is also to be welcomed that a number of prominent figures in the industry have thrown their support behind the report, which was produced by three individuals at their own expense.

Broadcaster and author Melvyn Bragg described the document as “timely, urgent and damning of an increasingly centralised funding process.” He added: “London is simply eating up the resources, which are limited, and is starving the rest of the country."

Film director David Puttnam meanwhile hit out at the “wholly unjustifiable scale of bias towards London” and condemned the “policies that allow London – most especially affluent Londoners – to be underwritten at the expense of the rest of the country."

It is certainly noteworthy that the Prime Minister recently admitted the UK “has been too London-centric for far too long.” But we need action from him and his Government – not just words.

Wales has won more powers - now it must be Cornwall's turn

Mebyon Kernow has welcomed the announcement that the National Assembly of Wales has won greater powers, but re-iterated its call for devolution to Cornwall.

In 1997, the people of Wales voted in a referendum to create a Welsh Assembly. In 2011, they voted for law-making powers through a second referendum, and now they are winning further financial powers.

The Coalition last week announced that the Welsh Government will be given borrowing powers, control of landfill tax and stamp duty, and a House of Commons bill giving permission to hold a referendum on the devolution of income tax.

It was also in 1997 that the people of Scotland voted in a referendum to re-establish their parliament. And next year, they go to the polls to decide on whether Scotland should be independent – with opponents already promising more powers to the Scottish Parliament if they vote no.

But Cornwall has fared less well, even though 50,000 declarations demanding a Cornish Assembly were presented to 10 Downing Street in 2001. It remains a disgrace that Tony Blair’s Labour Government dismissed the declarations and refused to consider demands for greater powers for Cornwall.

Instead, we had the centralisation of local government forced on us with the creation of a single unitary authority, in the face of massive opposition.

And we have even had the Conservative-led Coalition Government further undermining democracy and the very territoriality of Cornwall by attempting to push through plans for a cross-Tamar parliamentary constituency.

Cornwall deserves better and a new democratic settlement – just like Wales – and Mebyon Kernow will continue to put pressure on central government to deliver meaningful devolution to Cornwall.