No to Coalition plan for regional pay in the NHS

This weekend, Coalition Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that he backs lower pay for NHS staff in poorer areas such as Cornwall.

Lansley’s plan for regional pay would mean that nurses, midwives, paramedics, porters and cleaners would earn less in areas such as Cornwall, while employees in London and South East of England would get more.

This is a disgraceful and totally unacceptable proposal.

Cornwall suffers from the lowest average wages in the UK, and yet the cost of living is especially high. Thousands are struggling to access housing at a price they can afford, while government cuts are having a devastating impact on public services and the local economy.

The reality is that there is already great inequality across, and between, the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. And I strongly believe that central government should be working to reduce this inequality but if Andrew Lansley and his allies get their way it will get worse.

Regional pay will mean that more money would be siphoned out of Cornwall to be spent in London and the South East – and that would be a scandal. It must be opposed.

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Andrew George MP accuses MK of “silly politics”

The Western Morning News has today covered MK’s challenge to Cornish MPs to resign from their respective Coalition parties over the “Pasty Tax” and other policies that are damaging Cornwall.

Helpfully, the newspaper shows that only a miniscule 15 coalition backbenchers – ten Tories and five Lib Dems – voted against the “Pasty Tax.”

Liberal Democrat Andrew George, described as a member of MK “in the 80s when it was possible to also be a member of other political parties" is reported as saying: "People have moved from parties before but it is not going to happen over this issue. I would prefer to make this a cross-party issue rather than flinging around accusations – this is unhelpful, silly politics and diverts us from standing shoulder to shoulder."

He is also reported as saying local MPs would "have another crack" at reversing the tax as the Bill moved through the committee stages.

I would like to point out three things.

1. When Andrew George was a member of MK in the 1980s, you could not also be a member of another political party. MK member stopped being a pressure group in the early 1970s when it became a fully-fledged political party.

2. Last year, Cornish MPs spoke out against the creation of a Devonwall parliamentary constituency. Their party colleagues outside of Cornwall refused to support the campaign and then the majority of the Cornish MPs (five out of six) voted through the actual legislation.  Will they do the same on the “Pasty Tax”?

3. In the spirit of Andrew's commitment to this being a "cross-party issue," will he condemn the actions of Lib Dems in the Truro area for their actions in the recent Boscawen by-election?

Article in Inside Housing magazine

The latest edition of Inside Housing magazine was published today and it featured an article about my work as an MK Councillor written by Lydia Stockdale. It was entitled: “The flag bearer for Cornwall” and is a long article, nearly 2,000 words in length.

Printed below is an extract:

The gross domestic product generated by individuals in Cornwall is two thirds of that of the average person in the UK. Workers here earn 20 per cent less than elsewhere. Meanwhile, the average cost of a house in Cornwall is £216,129, just 5 per cent less than the UK average of £228,385.

In fact, housing-related problems account for more than half of the correspondence Mr Cole has with his constituents. ‘I’ve had more people come to me as a councillor in the last two or three years on housing issues than ever before,’ he states.

‘We’re in this terrible place where ordinary working people cannot afford to buy a house or to rent in the private sector,’ he continues. ‘When I was first elected 13 years ago you could buy a new house in my village for £60,000 - if you want to buy one of those houses now, it’s £150,000.’

Many of those who contact Mr Cole ‘are in good jobs, earning a reasonable amount of money, but they get paid, pay their rent, and work themselves silly to get through to the end of the month, by which time they will have nothing, then they get paid again and go back to the start’, he says. ‘Life is just a cycle of eking out enough to exist - that’s wrong.’

Just 12 per cent of Cornwall’s housing stock is social rented - this compares with 16 per cent in the south west and 23 per cent across the whole UK. Mr Cole suspects the Homes and Communities Agency’s affordable homes programme - which sets ‘affordable’ rents at 80 per cent of market rates - will do little to improve this situation.

‘Instead of introducing a rent control act, for example, central government is actually just making the problem worse. It’s tying the affordable element to the out-of-control open market element - I think that’s absolutely barking mad.’

The Mebyon Kernow leader says this with passion, but in his case actions speak louder than words. When Cornwall Council absorbed the county’s district councils to become a unitary local authority three years ago, Mr Cole was forced to choose between continuing his work as a councillor and 14-year career as an archaeologist for the local authority - he was not allowed to do both.

The married 45-year-old, who comes from what he describes as ‘a traditional, working class, Cornish family’, opted to ditch his full-time job and the salary that came with it to focus on his life in politics, which began when he joined Mebyon Kernow the age of 20. ‘I felt I needed to argue the things I felt were important,’ he says.

The full article can be read at http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/development/the-flag-bearer-for-cornwall/6521500.article

The "Pasty Tax," Angela Eagle and Liberal Democrat hypocrisy

The Liberal Democrats are rightly coming in for considerable criticism following last night’s vote on the “Pasty Tax,” when only five Lib Dem MPs opposed the proposal.

Speaking in the House of Commons today, Labour spokesperson Angela Eagle drew attention to a recent Liberal Democrat leaflet (Truro Boscawen by-election).

You may recall that I commented on this leaflet a couple of weeks, which stated that a vote for the Liberal Democrats would “stop the Tories taxing our pasties.”

Waving the leaflet, Angela Eagle described the leaflet as a “desperate effort to hoodwink the public.” She pointed out that only five Lib Dems actually voted against the “Pasty Tax” and no-one could be “fooled by their dubious political posturing,” adding that “it was Lib Dem votes what won the pasty tax.”

The leaflet in question (stated: “Joseph Swain and the Cornish Liberal Democrats are campaigning hard to stop the London-based Tory party putting a tax on one of our County’s best loved icons. Labour care more about sausage rolls. By voting Lib Dem today you’ll be voting to aid the campaign to save the Cornish pasty industry, which the Conservatives have put under threat.”

THE FACTS: 261 Conservatives and 34 Liberal Democrats voted in favour of the “Pasty Tax” on 18th April. Only five Lib Dem MPs (three from Cornwall) and 10 Conservative MPs (three from Cornwall) opposed the tax.

MK calls on Cornish MPs to resign from Coalition

Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall has formally condemned the two Coalition parties for refusing to rethink its plans for a “Pasty Tax.”

Last night, 261 Conservatives and 34 Liberal Democrats voted in favour of the “Pasty Tax.” Only five Lib Dem MPs (three from Cornwall) and 10 Conservative MPs (three from Cornwall) opposed the tax.

MK has also challenged the six Cornish MPs to resign from their respective Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties in protest at the actions of the Government on the “Pasty Tax” and wide range of other issues.

In a statement issued today, MK Deputy Leader stated the following:

“The Prime Minister and the Coalition is not listening to the representations against the ‘Pasty Tax’ and it is even ignoring the views of its local MPs. This is disgraceful, and it is symptomatic of Cameron’s disregard for Cornwall on this and wide range of other issues.

“It is about time that Cornish MPs started living up to their election promises and put the needs of Cornwall ahead of the interests of their political parties.

“I call on the MPs to put Cornwall first and to resign from their respective Coalition parties, sending a strong message to Cameron and Clegg that Cornwall cannot be treated with such contempt.”

Cllr Long has also called on Conservative and Liberal Democrat members in Cornwall to disassociate themselves from the actions of the Coalition Government. He has invited one and all to join Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall.