It is as follows:
When I was considering the content of my columns for the Cornish Guardian over the Christmas and New Year period, the editor suggested that I might look back over 2017 and “do a bit of a retrospective.”
When I was considering the content of my columns for the Cornish Guardian over the Christmas and New Year period, the editor suggested that I might look back over 2017 and “do a bit of a retrospective.”
It has certainly been an eventful year with council elections, a General Election and a great deal of political upheaval. But most of all, looking back and contrasting then to what is happening now, it all seems a bit “groundhog day.”
Early in 2017, we were digesting the news that Cornwall had the lowest economic performance of any nation in the United Kingdom. And now, twelve months on, the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics tell the same story.
England has a GVA per head of £27,108, which is 102.9% of the UK average, followed by Scotland on £24,800 (94.2%). Doing less well are Northern Ireland and Wales, with GVA figures of £19,997 (75.9%) and £19,140 (72.7%) respectively.
Cornwall (and the Isles of Scilly) trail way behind with a GVA of £17,069 (64.8% of the UK average) and the ONS’s new approach to the statistics only seem to show the gap between Cornwall and the other nations of the UK to be wider.
So much for our call for the Government to tackle the over-centralised nature of the United Kingdom, and to end the inequalities between the various nations and regions of the UK.
Twelve months ago, I was writing about the unfairness of funding settlements for local councils and the irony of Conservative MPs lambasting their own Government for cuts that meant that local councils had not only “trimmed off” the fat, but had “gone through the surface of the bone” and, in some instances, were “sucking out the marrow.”
And yet, it has got worse, and councillors are presently having to consider sizable increases in council tax in an attempt to offset cuts in central government funding.
Twelve months ago, there was massive concern about the National Health Service, the crisis in social care, and the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan which would institutionalise underfunding of £270 million in the Cornish health service.
And now, the stress on the NHS continues to grow and grow, many people are worried about the possible ACO reorganisation of the health service and associated social care, and the issue of underfunding has simply not been addressed.
I could go on and list many more examples where, shamefully, little meaningful progress has been made.
And as we look ahead to 2018, it all shows that political change is desperately needed for Cornwall and the well-being of its citizens. Surely we should all be uniting to make that better deal for Cornwall a reality.
Early in 2017, we were digesting the news that Cornwall had the lowest economic performance of any nation in the United Kingdom. And now, twelve months on, the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics tell the same story.
England has a GVA per head of £27,108, which is 102.9% of the UK average, followed by Scotland on £24,800 (94.2%). Doing less well are Northern Ireland and Wales, with GVA figures of £19,997 (75.9%) and £19,140 (72.7%) respectively.
Cornwall (and the Isles of Scilly) trail way behind with a GVA of £17,069 (64.8% of the UK average) and the ONS’s new approach to the statistics only seem to show the gap between Cornwall and the other nations of the UK to be wider.
So much for our call for the Government to tackle the over-centralised nature of the United Kingdom, and to end the inequalities between the various nations and regions of the UK.
Twelve months ago, I was writing about the unfairness of funding settlements for local councils and the irony of Conservative MPs lambasting their own Government for cuts that meant that local councils had not only “trimmed off” the fat, but had “gone through the surface of the bone” and, in some instances, were “sucking out the marrow.”
And yet, it has got worse, and councillors are presently having to consider sizable increases in council tax in an attempt to offset cuts in central government funding.
Twelve months ago, there was massive concern about the National Health Service, the crisis in social care, and the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan which would institutionalise underfunding of £270 million in the Cornish health service.
And now, the stress on the NHS continues to grow and grow, many people are worried about the possible ACO reorganisation of the health service and associated social care, and the issue of underfunding has simply not been addressed.
I could go on and list many more examples where, shamefully, little meaningful progress has been made.
And as we look ahead to 2018, it all shows that political change is desperately needed for Cornwall and the well-being of its citizens. Surely we should all be uniting to make that better deal for Cornwall a reality.
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