Three more MPs have signed the Plaid Cymru EDM marking the 10th anniversary of 50,000 declarations demanding a Cornish Assembly.
They are Lib Dems Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay) and Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South) as well as Labour member Paul Flynn (Newport West).
Cornish MPs George Eustice, Sheryll Murray and Sarah Newton have yet to sign the EDM.
In my column for this week's Cornish Guardian, I have condemned the impact of short-term and "payday" loans on the less-well-off. The article was as follows:
I would like to start my column by wishing all readers of the Cornish Guardian a very Happy Christmas, as well as a healthy and prosperous New Year.
I would also like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my column over the last twelve months, especially those who have contacted me to discuss issues and/or encouraged me with positive comments.
The Christmas and New Year period is a truly wonderful time that brings friends, families and communities together. Many will also celebrate their faith, while others will simply take a break and recharge their batteries for the coming year.
Whatever you have planned, I sincerely hope that you have a great time and enjoy the festivities.
But Christmas can also be a costly and difficult time for individuals and families on low incomes.
This is particularly the case this year. The ongoing economic problems mean that the cost of living continues to rise, while incomes remain static or decline in real terms.
Many families are already struggling to make ends meet, some are seeking help from food banks, whilst facing the additional pressures of the Christmas period such as buying presents for children and grandchildren.
It is little wonder that so many people are predicted to fall into debt or descend into even more debt.
I am disgusted that there is an ever-growing group of companies preying on people with offers of short-term small loans, but at extortionate levels of interest.
These include so-called “payday loans” (to cover bills in advance of the next pay cheque) with interest rates as high as 4,000 per cent.
I consider it a scandal that such loans, targeting low earners and the vulnerable, are continuously being advertised on television.
It is also the case that, if the “payday loans” are not paid back in full very quickly, the debt escalates rapidly. Thousands are already termed “zombie debtors,” struggling to pay back the interest while never reducing the capital element of the debt.
The situation is so dire that research has suggested that 3.5 million adults are considering taking out such a payday loan over the next six months.
Surely now is the time for central government to take action to protect the best interests of the less-well-off, to increase regulation of the financial sector, and tackle the exploitation of what one MP has described as “legal loan sharks” with their “irresponsible lending.”
As of this morning, a total of seven MPs had signed the EDM marking the 10th anniversary of 50,000 declarations demanding a Cornish Assembly.
As well as the three Plaid Cymru MPs who were the original signatories, it has now been supported by Cornish Lib Dem MPs Andrew George and Dan Rogerson, and Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) and John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington).
Other Cornish MPs George Eustice, Steve Gilbert, Sheryl Murray and Sarah Newton have yet to sign the EDM.
The issue was also covered in today’s Morning Star newspaper. Apparently, “three Welsh MPs joined forces with prominent Cornish campaigner Andrew George, Lib Dem MP for St Ives, in tabling a Commons motion in favour of a Cornish Assembly.”
For information, Cllr Loveday Jenkin and I were interviewed by a reporter from The Guardian newspaper yesterday concerning issues of Cornish identity, the campaign for a Cornish Assembly, the 50,000, and a wide range of other issues. Hopefully, there will be a feature sometime before or over the Christmas period.
Earlier today, I had the pleasure to help show Julian German (Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment) around Indian Queens Victory Hall to mark the completion of the replacement of the original 1920s roof with a new insulated modern roof.
It was about twelve months ago that the Hall entered into the “U Choose 2 Retrofit” competition within the China Clay Area, when a public vote selected the hall as one of three community spaces to receive a package of carbon reduction measures.
The cost was over £100,000 and came from Cornwall Council. The monies were provided by the Eco-Communities Programme of Development funding awarded to the authority by the Department of Communities and Local Government.
During the works, it also became clear that the original roof structure has come under extreme pressure over the years and this had actually led to some of the roof trusses needing repair and strengthening.
The project has been a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Indian Queens Victory Hall to make really important and much needed improvements. I feel privileged to have been involved with the project and the Hall Committee are to be congratulated in driving the project forward.
Elsewhere in the Parish, three community halls have benefited from free photo-voltaic panels from Kronos Solar, the firm which recently installed a solar farm at Trefullock near Summercourt.
Arrays have been installed at Summercourt School, the New Memorial Hall at Summercourt and Fraddon Village Hall. The School and the halls will benefit from both the generation of electricity and an income through the feed-in tafiffs. It was also good that the arrays were up and running before the feed-in tariffs were changed on 12th December.
Kronos Solar has further panels which are likely to be made available for three further community buildings in the New Year. Watch this space for an update.
Today, I attended the latest meeting of Cornwall Council’s ruling Cabinet. I made a contribution in two debates.
In the first of these, the Cabinet voted to agree a development brief for land to the west of Truro. Without getting too technical, I expressed considerable concern at the proposal, raised a number of what I considered to be important issues with regard to planning policy and was not happy when these concerns were not even considered by the Panel.
In the second debate, the Cabinet declined to develop an alternative to their stalled incinerator proposal. A number of us made impassioned pleas for consideration to be given to a Plan B, but it was all to no avail.
In the end they agreed to “consider what further mitigation may be required to offset the impact of the further delay in delivering the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre in order to continue to deal with Cornwall’s residual domestic waste.”
To be frank, I am not even sure what they have agreed …
