Some of my work for Penzance or why I'd be an effective Cornwall Councilor

This blog intends to illustrate some of my work for Penzance and to show the kind of issues I have supported and argued against, over the last few years. In this time of great political turmoil and with Brexit looming large on the horizon, it is more important than ever to have representatives that will stand up for issues, knows how to campaign effectively and gets things done. There are 2 sections below; 1 being an effective councillor and 2 standing up for local issues, these are the reasons why I think I am a very credible Cornwall Council candidate and why with a greater platform I could be more effective in making things happen. This is only a glimpse of my work for Penzance East, please read some of  my older posts for more and as always any questions or comments find me on twitter @cernyw or drop me an email robscornishblog@gmail.com.

Being an effective councillor:

I was elected onto Penzance Town Council back in 2013, when I also stood for Cornwall Council for Penzance East. I was elected as Vice Chair of the General Purposes Committee at my first meeting and held that post for 2 years,  I was then elected Chair of the same committee. In this time I managed meetings, held agenda setting meetings with officers and chased up items. A big part of that committee was Christmas Lights and I was pleased to be one of the councillors pushing for the town council to provide lights for Causewayhead, the Causewayhead traders had previously funded their own lights. I also chaired meetings to organise the festival that went with the switch on and working with the Chamber of Commerce, Causewayhead Traders Association, Chapel Street Traders Association and Penzance BID. It was also through this committee that the town council condemned plans to close Penzance Police Station front desk and wrote to the Police and Crime Commissioner asking them to reconsider.

I have supported devolution at every turn on the town council, although I've been reluctant to do so when there was an undue burden on the rate payers of this town, lobbying instead for a better deal from Cornwall Council, some of this is covered in my last blog here. I supported the devolution of Jubilee Pool and welcomed the chance to regenerate the great seafront of Penzance. I joined with town councillors in opposing the closure of the post office in town and the closure of Poltair Hospital. I've been the sole councilor to keep arguing against the use of glyphosates in weed spraying, unfortunately unsuccessfully... so far.

Superfast Broadband, I've always seen the benefits of faster and more reliable internet and welcomed the introduction of fibre- optic broadband. However as Cornwall Council and BT were proclaiming the success of the scheme a number of businesses in the town centre approached me about the lack of progress for properties directly connected to the exchange, months past the scheduled completion date. Superfast had been rolled out outside the town centre but not within it. I quickly took up the challenge of this and spoke to a great number of businesses in this ward and found out that it was a great problem for many of them. BT at the time were trying to figure out how to connect the town center and were looking into frankly compromised solutions such as satellite, which would not deliver the same quality and speed as fibre. Thanks to the pressure of local businesses, the Cornishman and the town council, superfast broadband is now here in the town centre.

One of my proudest achievements on the town council (so far) was to bring the idea to councillors that the authority become a Living Wage employer. With the unanimous support of councillors we did so in 2013 and I hope, set an example to other employers that fair pay is not only just and right but it also helps to get the most out of employees. It was very pleasing to see Cornwall Council follow suit especially as a lot of their workers, particularly in health and social care were paid well below the Living Wage.



Standing up for local issues:

I got into politics as I was frustrated with the state of politics and matters like: the lack of affordable housing, centralisation, Cornwall's under-performing economy and the abject lack of (actually) affordable housing. These problems and the realisation that politics could work better for the people of Cornwall still drives me today. Back then it made me become an activist and I quickly realised that social media and blogging was a very useful way of reaching large audiences and agitating for change and lobbying the people in charge.

It was through blogging that I first appeared in the media. Well before I was elected I was featured on the BBC Inside Out programme, talking about the gaps in the various affordable housing schemes, introduced by the coalition and although the equity schemes were very good eligible properties were so few and far between and there were none in Penzance at all. Affordable housing is a key thing that needs to change and although there have been a few increases in affordable housing availability in Penzance East recently, much much more action is needed.

Wavehub and it's potential was always one of the projects that I always admired, there is obviously great opportunity for more renewable power in Cornwall and looking to the sea to generate power again is obvious. But I felt a great sense of frustration that the coalition government quickly centralised its management but did not want to seem to do anything with it and sat on their hands. So I wrote to the minister then in charge of it Vince Cable enquiring as to what the hold up was with the aim of giving them a kick up the jacksy. The local media picked up on the story and was featured widely, including myself on the tv, this did prompt some action from the government and eventually Wavehub was devolved back to Cornwall and is now up and running trailing renewable devices and we are now back on the front foot with green energy and innovation.

Cornwall Council's privatisation plans, back when the Tories and Independents were in charge, they dreamed up a Shared Services scheme with BT. I argued and argued against this and promoted the petition that was massively successful. However a slimmed down scheme was introduced, the joint Cornwall- BT scheme however was destined for failure after legal action by CC it was stopped and services, rightly brought back in house.

I think I would be a good Cornwall Councillor. I care about this area, I am passionate about change. I know how to be an effective councillor and work with various groups, businesses, residents and other councilors. I know how to get issues that other parties don't want to talk about onto the agenda and I know how to get a big platform through the media and otherwise. Please consider voting for me on May the Fourth and give me a a better chance and a bigger voice to lobby for change, thanks for reading.

Below is a post from the Mebyon Kernow facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MebyonKernow/, check it out for more of the policy pledges that MK is fighting this election on.

The election, the morning after the night before, some thoughts

Firstly many thanks to those of you that supported me at this election. My agent who as wonderful and a real rock for me to lean on. My helpers who delivered almost 20 thousand leaflets. Everyone that sent me messages of encouragement. A special thanks to all those that showed faith in me and put their x next to my name and my party.


It has been quite an experience, I've thought and done little else these last few weeks. I've lost a stone in weight and I'm struggling to remember what it's like to wake in the morning and do normal things. I've given everything I've got at this election, I've over come fears and pushed myself hard. As have my small but dedicated election team.

I'm a bit sore that the MK vote did not match all this hard work. I'm glad we got 518 votes and I'm happy that we made progress on the 387 from last time. It may not seem a lot but when you have such a small base to work from but it is a large percentage increase and a definite sign of progress, however painfully slow. It's much the same picture for the rest of MK a small but steady increase in the vote. I think the party deserved more but that didn't happen.

The inevitable reckoning has come, many are talking of what the party needs to change and I welcome that debate and look forward to taking part of it, when I've rested a little of course. I would however like people to consider a tale from the American civil war, when after the event the Confederates got together and lambasted all the mistakes they made, a general Pickett piped up "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."

You have to consider why in any contest one side did not succeed but also why the other side did succeed. Throughout the UK we could ask why did Miliband and Labour not win? and why did Cameron and the Tories get a resounding result against the grain? Same here in Cornwall why did Mebyon Kernow get a tiny share of the vote and why did the other parties succeed?

I told the press at the count yesterday that being a small party in a marginal is tough. Marginals are where parties concentrate money and resources. All of the party leaders bar Miliband came to this constituency at least once and got useful media coverage for their candidates. They spend a lot of money and they are determined in their aim of gaining as much votes as they can and they do that by attracting voters from other parties like MK.

If I compare my campaign with the other 5 candidates there are obvious disparities. All delivered more leaflets than me, all were on tv more than me, all were in the press more than me and all of them spent more money than I did. Politics is about reaching out to the electorate, engaging them and their fear and hopes and showing how your principles, ideas and policies would make a difference to their lives. We had the least opportunities to do that.

That's something for us to consider. I'm not bitching about it, I knew this all along I knew I wasn't entering a fair fight. For next time though I would only stand if I had more support, more members and supporters to help and a lot more resources to throw at it. Till 2020 :)

Fair funding for Cornwall would be my number one priority if elected in St Ives

“If you are elected what will be your number one priority for your constituency and why?”

My number one priority as MP would be to get a fair deal for Cornwall’s funding, not only because it would be the right to do, but also the public are crying for decent public services.

As I see it, there are 3 major problems that need to be addressed by government and have been ignored by politicians for far too long. 1 this constituency has the lowest wages in all of Cornwall and some of the worst across the UK. 2 Cornwall is one of the poorest parts of the European Union and second poorest in the UK. 3 We are given a raw deal for government on funding and this makes the first 2 problems so much worse.

Here’s some examples, recently John Pollard said that Cornwall Council was short changed by £48 million a year by government. Our school child funding per head is £154 less than the national average. In the years 2006-2013 our NHS got £220 million less than the funds government even declared they needed. We need fair funding and I am proud to represent the only party which has addressing this issue as a manifesto commitment. This would be my priority.

Three things that need to change in politics in this next parliament

There's a lot said in a political campaign and certainly I've written and spoke my fair share. On ideas and policies that matter to me. But my ability to pick out a bad policy and build an argument about it is not a reason to elect me. If that logic ran true it'd be Owen Jones fending off coalition advances, but that's not true.

Electing an MP is about electing someone for their ideals, policies and principles but also electing an individual to represent them both in terms of policy and in terms of locality. I'd happily be an MP at the heart of the debate, trying to hold reason, sending constant missives to the press on how I'm right and everyone else is wrong.  But that's not enough, being a talker and thinker is great but we also need a doer and someone with an eye not just for high politics but an eye to the grass roots. 

I've tried to be this way with my blog, I often write and campaign about lofty ideals, devolution, privatisation, austerity and so on. In between those times I've  campaigned on specific issues. Against the pasty tax and Devonwall. For Superfast Broadband in Penzance town centre. For government investment and attention in Wave Hub, among others. I don't pretend for a minute that it was me alone that shifted these issues. I do feel however I can take credit for inspiring debate and getting the situation into the media and further up the political agenda.

I guess my personal plea to you is this, I feel I can have an impact, I feel that I already do. I've had this impact as a blogger, a tweeter and more recently as a town councillor. If I have a bigger mandate from thursday's vote, I will have more influence and more people will take note of me. More importantly than all of that pay more attention to Cornwall and the issues MK has raised time and again in this election, the failures of centralisation, our poorly performing economy, our low wages and Cornwall's affordable housing need. The opportunities of rethinking politics, having the chance to set our own, new, priorities in Cornwall, the chance that by doing things differently Cornwall can be a better place to live, work and play.

I've raised these three truths at this election a number of times, 1. we don't get fair funding for our public services in Cornwall, 2. the St Ives constituency has the lowest wages in Cornwall, 3. Cornwall is one of the poorest parts of Western Europe. Tory, Lib Dem and Labour have had a chance to sort these out and they haven't. I think the time has come to change that, we must change that. The more of a vote I and Mebyon Kernow get on thursday, the more of a say, MK can have in getting the focus of political minds to address Cornwall's fundamental problems head on and unlock the brighter future that we all know is possible. 

We must end the trend of privatising public services and return services to public ownership

“Is it inevitable that in future more and more public services both locally and nationally will be privatised and/or outsourced or should this policy be reversed and services put back into public ownership?”


I must admit that some weeks answering these questions is tricky in the 200 word limit, but this week

it is deceptively simple. No! it is not inevitable that public services are run for profit.


The manifesto of Mebyon Kernow is very very clear on this, public services should be publicly owned and run, not privatised, and further they need to be under democratic control, not managed by undemocratic and unaccountable boards, trusts and quangos.


There has been a trend under Tory, Labour and Tory Lib Dem governments for more and more involvement in the private sector and it is obvious who has benefited from these policies: share holders. This has often been to the detriment of public services.


This has increased the power of corporations and the natural extension of this policy of giving the private sector more and power is the TTIP. This is despite the fact that polling shows people want public services owned by the state. We need everything from the NHS, libraries to the rail companies run for the public good under democratic control and delivering first class services to the public not first class profits for the private sector.

How government should support Cornish fishing and farming, but don't

“What would you like to see done to provide more support to the agriculture and fishing industries and enable them to continue and thrive?”


It's very welcome to see this question featured, people often underestimate the importance of food

production to the Cornish economy. Both farming and fishing are very important to the local economy. It's a shame that both are part of the same question as they need different things to support them grow as industries.

Cornwall does not have a strong voice in the EU and UK, as a result the CAP and CFP and UK government policy do little to help our fishing fleet and farmers. This is because ministers treat our input into these policies as an afterthought. Both industries need a greater say in policy, it is scandalous this does not happen.

In order to reduce food miles, reduce traffic and help the Cornish economy. I believe that retailers should be offered tax incentives to stock local produce and source it locally without the scandal of trucking it up country to return the produce back to Cornwall. As well supermarkets should be regulated in the price they offer for goods, we can’t continue the economic insanity of milk pricing and it should be the responsibility of the state to intervene in situations like this for the common good.

Devolution is coming to Cornwall, how you vote on thursday will have a huge effect on how ambitious our settlement will be

Devolution is an idea often talked about and little understood. What does devolvement mean? What will change? 

The simple answer to all these questions is a "great deal", the complicated one "that's up to you?"

In the last year or so all of the political parties have addressed the issue of Cornish devolution.

Labour Tory (and UKIP) say a Cornish Assembly would be too costly. Both concede powers should be devolved from the centre. Whether that means to local government? to mayors? Or perhaps to new bodies, both are keen on authorities working with each other, perhaps the ever fated Devonwall or Westcountry devolution will happen and we'll be ruled by Bristol...

The Liberal Democrats talk of devolution on demand, unfortunately unlike say Netflix, there is no preview button. They have committed to a Cornish assembly  (rather vaguely and half heartedly it must be said). They've also pledged to reduce the number of politicians in Cornwall. So they both want more powers to Cornwall Council with less councillors. Bigger budgets and responsibilities with less, oversight, scrutiny and accountability, a true example of Cleggism, being neither liberal nor democratic....

Cornwall Council have the most enthusiastic campaign, the Case for Cornwall. Which has it's merits, it's well presented and has some support in the council. Probably a bit dissapointing for the council that no political party at this general election has come out in support of the campaign. Which is odd as most candidates in Cornwall speak in favour of it and could have taken up this document to champion.

Meanwhile Mebyon Kernow have a policy document, Towards a National Assembly for Cornwall. It has been widely consulted on and spells out what powers we think Cornwall needs. It is by far the most ambitious in the powers and responsibilities it calls for. 

My argument is this, devolution will be a huge issue with the next government. Whichever of the coalitions takes office, power will be devolved. What shape that will be and how effective that could be in forging a better Cornwall, is undecided.

Parties will offer various pitches about how this election is crucially about tuition fees, austerity, climate change, the NHS, the economy, housing, low wages. I've heard all my fellow candidates utter these things. They've made some very good arguments. Clearly explained the problems of these things and why they're such vital issues.

My counter argument is this, yes we must address these vital issues and now, of course we must. However, rather than fight a pitched battle here and a pitched battle there against the entire government system. Vote for MK and push with us for devolution for these vital issues to Cornwall. So the people we need to influence, to change policy, live among us and are elected by the people and held to account by them. So we can look to a future where the privatisation of public services is a Cornish decision. So the definitions of affordable housing and actually building some genuinely affordable housing, is not ruled out by a ministerial decree. So we can have the tools to fix our communities by dealing with second homes. So we can have buses that work in unison with trains, where we can adjust our fares and timetables without meeting central government disapproval. So we can finally have the tools to deal with the problem of being one of the least economically productive parts of Europe and actually improve the Cornish economy. 

It's obviously up to you how you vote on May the seventh. Do be wary though, that devolution will be a massive issue and it will be led by MPs. My view is we need to be ambitious with the future. We need to aim higher and get the most powers and control over funding that we can. If you vote for Mebyon Kernow candidates on thursday you will be voting for the most ambitious people determined to win the most powers, freedoms and funding from central government. 

https://www.mebyonkernow.org/pages/cornish_assembly.php

How Cornwall can benefit from superfast broadband and better connections with the world

“The rollout of superfast broadband has been hailed as a catalyst for creating new high skilled, high paid jobs in Cornwall – what else can be done to help develop and encourage this kind of employment in the county?”


Having world class superfast broadband is a very positive thing for Cornwall and more must be done 

to fully realise the potential it can have. I was recently in a campaign to get this into Penzance town 

centre on time and FTTP installed rather than much slower FTTC. I took part in this campaign after 

businesses in the town asked me what the delay was. 

From them and a survey I did of companies and organisations in the town, it was clear that superfast 

was a very important asset and would enable growth. We live in an increasingly connected world 

and it was a real eye opener to me how many organisations in Penzance trade and communicate 

with partners throughout the UK, Europe and the whole world. 


Although I believe in the need to do more trade locally and reduce food miles and other unnecessary 

transports. The next step for West Cornwall and Scilly in my opinion is taking advantage of how the 

internet and superfast broadband connects us with the world. We need government to help and 

enable companies take advantage of the internet. Look to how to expand existing companies and 


bring more to Cornwall to unleash our potential.

Free schools are not pushing up standards, we need to address the key issues on education

“Are free schools the best way to push up standards in education or should the resources being used for these new schools instead be used to provide for improvements in existing schools?”

It goes withour saying that education is important. We need a school system that delivers first class education. We need pupils to leave education armed with the knowledge and the ability to think for themselves,  in order to get on in life, both in work and life itself.

These are the things politicians should bear in mind when they consider education, how to defend what is good and how to improve what is bad and constantly strive to make education better.

Unfortunately Free Schools, seemed to be based more on ideology than on improvement. They have centralised the funding away from local authorities and to the hands of Whitehall. How this makes schools free is unclear. I fear that if changes or cuts to funding are made (the ideological axe still hangs ominously over public services) how will schools make representations to a distant unaccountable bureaucracy?

Our schools need investment, as we've seen over the last few years in Helston, with the c block fiasco, the government have avoided the main problems from the coal face and focused on top down solutions. I believe that the funds diverted to the Free School experiment would be much better invested in schools.

The government needs to do more to improve transport in Cornwall

“What can be done to improve transport links to and from Cornwall 

as well as transport within the county?”

Transport links in Cornwall are not ideal and I’m glad the question addresses the vital issue of getting 

around Cornwall not just getting up country. Fundamentally one of the key issues for our next MP 

should be getting fair funding for our transport network and to get the crucial decisions devolved to 

Cornwall, as we know best the problems we face and how to solve them and this is true not just for 

roads but also public transport including of course the links with the Isles of Scilly. 

Recently the  government was unwilling to pay for A30 improvements, despite the fact they are responsible 

for it, Cornwall Council is contributing. This is an unwelcome development as we in Cornwall and tourists, 

pay road tax to central government, where is this money going? We need some of Cornish taxpayers 

money back from the Treasury to pay for transport. 

We need to rethink how we deliver it and should  seriously consider renationalising the public transport 

network that we already subsidise and look to improving it by making train and bus times schedules in 

relation to each other. We need well-funded  public transport that is quick, efficient and doesn’t costs 

travellers the earth to travel.

Sport is a good thing and the government should do more to promote it in Cornwall

“Do you think Cornwall needs a Stadium for Cornwall 

and how should this and other sporting facilities in Cornwall be funded?”

Like many members of Mebyon Kernow, I've long been a supporter of a stadium for Cornwall. We need a stadium for the community, we need a stadium to unleash Cornish sporting talent and a stadium would help build our economy. The same benefits are true of other sporting facilities from the grass roots up.

I think the ideal way of funding Cornish sport is through public- private partnership, with authorities such as the government, Cornwall Council and one day soon a Cornish Assembly, teaming up with sports organisations and other institutions like colleges and communities to deliver it.

I feel so strongly about the benefits of sport that I recently wrote to sports teams in the constituency asking for their opinions on how government could work better for them. I believe government could, and indeed must work better for Cornish sport. For too long Westminster, like so much in Cornwall, has shirked any responsibility. I think it should be the job of our next MP to lobby for investment and help for all our sports, to help put clubs and organisations on an economically sustainable footing. To unleash our sporting talent and help communities across this constituency.

Cornwall needs wages to go up and employment conditions to improve

“New figures suggest that in some parts of Cornwall as many as 40% of jobs are not paying a living wage – what can be done to tackle the problem of low pay levels in Cornwall and should employers be allowed to continue employing staff on zero hour contracts?”

This is a very topical question, the TUC is running a Fair Pay Fortnight campaign at the moment, raising the issue of low pay and this week in the news, low wages across Cornwall has featured

heavily. That said, although it is higher on the political agenda and we should be grateful that politicians are showing an interest, it has been a problem in Cornwall for certainly all of my life time. Combined with high house prices, the low wages in Cornwall are a blight and contribute to the brain drain of young talented people moving from Cornwall. 

Government needs to take action to make pay fair and protect workers rights. There is a wide disparity between the minimum wage and the living wage, this wide gap needs to close. I'm fully supportive of the Living Wage and I'm proud that I put it forward to Penzance Town Council and that we are now a living wage employer. I think we need to live in a society where work pays and it is fair, abuses of 0 hours contracts needs to be clamped down on. The next government should introduce the living wage for all public sector workers. 

On the unfairness of austerity

“Is it fair that people in Cornwall who rely on public services are being made to suffer to help the national effort to cut the budget deficit and should more be done to ensure that local services are protected from cuts in public spending which are being enforced by austerity?”

Austerity is not about fairness, it's not about what is right and what is wrong. As we've seen in recent weeks with the the various tax dodging scandals, successive governments have turned a blind eye to the richest individuals and corporations paying their fair share. The present system is wholly unfair. 

At the moment local government is at the front line of these cuts. This is all despite the fact that it was not authorities like Cornwall Council, our public toilets or our care workers, police officers and NHS staff that caused the recession, it was the financial sector. However under the present skewed system who is it that has to pay their fair share of tax?

Tax dodging MUST be stamped out, being rich and donating to political parties should not be reason to be let off tax. Austerity needs to end, ask your self at the next election do you want decent public services? Do you want to hear more stories of austerity driven woe? Sadly the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour are all signed up to austerity and things will get worse if people do not look for alternatives like Mebyon Kernow- the Party for Cornwall.  

The troubling lack of debate over TTIP in this election

TTIP the massive issue that should be being talked about, but isn't. It stands to fundamentally change the EU's relations with the US, give yet more power to corporations and cede sovereignty of governments to companies. It's part of that worrying trend in politics that corporate interests get more and more say behind closed doors.

Dispensing entirely with concepts of democracy and accountability. In this regard it is starting in the way it means to go on. It will give corporations the rights to sue governments for loss of profit and stands to strengthen profit in the post- nationalised world of public services. It's so wrong it should be stopped.

Despite these grave fears, Labour, Tory, Lib Dems and UKIP all support it. (Greens and Plaid Cymru against TTIP and other parties not funded by corporate donors e.g. NHA, Left Unity). No question of a referendum or even something as old fashioned as a public consultation. The only real difference between the lot of them is that Labour and UKIP don't want the NHS included and the Lib Dems want to determine how NHS services are provided, with a privatised system open to international competition I'm not quite sure what that means. Perhaps just being on the fence as usual. The more eagle eyed among you will note that Labour doesn't want to exclude the NHS by renationalising it, they still welcome privatisation, with profit controls.

I must admit Labour (and UKIP's) postion perplexes the hell out of me. Yes include all kinds of public services in TTIP but not the NHS. So libraries, prisons, schools, public transport, utility companies are all fine to be thrown to the wolves of privatisation but not the NHS?

In case it isn't clear I don't agree with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership at all.  As my Mebyon Kernow colleague Stephen Richardson wrote TTIP privatisation of democracy? and I'd agree with that. It may cut against the grain of the Neo-Liberal policies of the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems but I don't agree that multi national companies should be the most powerful bodies on earth. I also don't agree that more and more privatisation is necessary. We need to give power back to the people and end this endless flow to big business.

Policing we need to scrap the commissioners and have the funding in place for decent policing

Another in my daily posts featuring my answer recently in the Cornishman

“Is it right that the number of police officers in Cornwall is continuing to fall, 

what would you do to stem this loss and should the role of Police and Crime Commissioner continue."

It is not right that police numbers continue to fall. Both coalition partners promised to increase police numbers, yet did the opposite in power, no one voted for this. There is increased demand on our police force, not only from crime but as we saw recently mental health patients being put in cells due to lack of resources in the NHS. 

This is one of the ways the police are being squeezed from both sides by the coalition's short sighted spending cuts.

My party Mebyon Kernow did not support the creation of police and crime commissioners.  It was the first election I chose not to vote in, because I felt so strongly it was not neccesary. The post is excessively expensive and worse still there is no evidence it has made policing better, it should be scrapped immediately.

We need an accountable police force and having a centralised Devon and Cornwall force is not in our interest. Let alone the further mergers being schemed about. There needs to be better connections with the public not inefficient phone numbers and front desks closing. We need a properly funded Cornish police force and a refocus on front line policing.

Cornwall and the relationship we need with Europe

My answer printed in the Cornishman, to the following question:

“What impact do you believe current immigration laws have had on Cornwall

 and do you believe Cornwall benefits from the UK being a member of the EU?”

"We live in a global world and being connected with the world for Cornwall's benefit is foremost in my mind. I take

 great exception with the idea that everything and everyone in the world is somehow a threat and to be feared. We must neither turn our backs on Europe nor be scared of changing it. 

The free movement of labour is not a new concept from the miners and labourers that came to work in Cornwall centuries ago to those same Cornish miners who went on to make the world theirs. I think we always need to bear this in mind when the increasingly dangerous prejudice of the right wing rears it's ugly head. 

As for the EU there are obvious benefits for Cornwall through various schemes of funding. We should be wary that if the UK does decide to leave the EU we will lose this money. Although I think the EU is beneficial for Cornwall, it could work for us better. It is an overly centralised and bureaucratic organisation and places like Cornwall have little influence on the EU.  We need more of an influence to change policies like agricultural and fishing that don't work for Cornwall. "

The future for green energy in Cornwall, we need more control and benefits from it

My answer printed in the Cornishman to the following question:
“Assuming that we are serious about developing green energy, does that mean increasingly covering

Cornwall's farmland in solar panels and wind turbines is a good idea, or are there alternatives?”

I have a deep feeling of frustration with the development of renewable energy in Cornwall. I remember as a boy growing up in awe of the wind turbines going up here before anywhere else in the UK. I had a great sense of pride that that our land was at the cutting edge. These feelings were rekindled by Wavehub but lamentably under government control progress is not being realised.

There are alternatives to prime valuable agricultural land dedicated to energy production. We need to look to the sea. We have some ideal locations for marine renewables but central government and their policies are holding us back. In Scotland where energy is devolved their marine renewables are world class an example for Cornwall to follow.

There needs to be diversity in energy production. Small scale renewable like pv panels, and small turbines on buildings and car parks are the way forward. They benefit residents and businesses and leave valuable agricultural land for agriculture.

Lamentably the economic benefit of our natural resources from cheap energy and jobs are imported and exported. We need to be at the forefront of renewables again under own control unshackled from the dead hand of central government.

My views on the NHS in Cornwall, it needs to be public and funded

My piece in the Cornishman on the question of the NHS answering the following question.

“What are your views on the future of NHS services in Cornwall 

and how they are funded?”

The NHS is a great institution, I’m sure myself and many of us, have relatives that would not be 

alive without the NHS and it’s dedicated nurses and doctors. Yet our health system is under 

threat from 2 angles underfunding and privatisation.

For decades the Cornish NHS has been underfunded. This has resulted in things like the closure

of Poltair and the continuing threat to services at West Cornwall Hospital and St Michael’s. 

Leaving us here in the west, to travel further (at increased risk in emergencies) for health 

services. 

We’ve seen in recent days the failings of Hinchbrooke, much revered as an example of public 

sector profit making. As we’re all keenly aware in Cornwall, after the Serco out of hours debacle, 

for profit often means cuts in service provision and an increased profit, privatisation does not 

work. 

If I was elected as MP, I would lobby for fair funding for the Cornish NHS. To resist the push to 

make the NHS a profit making machine and to maintain a system that is free at the point of use 

and local to the people. We need a health service as envisaged by it’s founders with care the top 

priority.

Winning the Cornish devolution debate at hustings

mebyonkernow.org
Posted by Mebyon Kernow- the Party for Cornwall on Sunday, 19 April 2015

Obviously the idea of getting more powers for Cornwall is a central plank of Mebyon Kernow's election campaign. Myself like all of the candidates are taking every opportunity to raise the issue, on leaflets, online, on the doorstep and at hustings. I've been pleased at how well received the ideas of devolution have been at the various hustings I have attended, especially when I have given examples of the kids of policies we could change if it was in Cornwall's power to do so.

Now I have attended 6 hustings with all of the 6 candidates. The same questions come up time and again at every debate. It's intriguing what candidates say and how that develops over time, I have certainly heard a few, not only making the same points as candidates had previously but even given the very same examples. I think this is partly because we all have different experiences and knowledge and we learn from each other. Although I must say I try not to 'copy and paste' others.

What I have found fascinating is that a few times I have spoken about devolution in terms of planning and housing policy and in terms of public transport policies. We need in both regards policies that suit Cornwall. We have planning policies that allow second homes to rip apart our communities, affordable housing definitions that are meaningless for people on local wages. Yet at the same time we have huge housing developments going up everywhere completely not dealing with the actual housing need we have in Cornwall. It's my argument that we need to make these decisions in Cornwall not let them be taken 300 miles away, so we can have policies that address these issues.

Similarly for public transport we need devolution, all of the rules and policies governing this are currently taken in London and imposed on Cornwall Council. We need local decision making in order to have trains that fit into bus times, so that you can get off one without waiting ages for the other. With more powers to a Cornish assembly we could have a greater say over public transport providers and make sure that buses and trains suit the needs of passengers and indeed the roads, infrastructure and geography of Cornwall.

At the beginning of the debates none of the candidates would talk about devolution in this regard, they would address the issues but talk about them in a general manner. However as time has gone on, I've heard nearly each one of my fellow PPCs argue that transport needs to be devolved to Cornwall, not simply copying what I have said by any means but developing their own arguments and giving their own examples.

I guess at this stage I should be worried about these "tanks on my lawn". I'm not because it's simple to see none of the other parties have a clear idea of what power they would like to see devolved to Cornwall. Far from being worried about this, it's a pleasure to see that the candidates have recognised the strength both of my arguments and of the positive response of people in audiences. There's a real demand for more local decision making and if elected as an MP I would press the case very strongly to the next government. If I'm not elected, I sincerely hope whoever is remembers what they said at hustings and actually does something about it. The time for talking about Cornish devolution is over, the time has come to start demanding powers from central government, Cornwall has had enough of empty promises...

Cornwall needs proper devolution to a Cornish assembly

For the 16 weeks up to the general election the West Briton and Cornishman have asked each candidate to write 200 words on a question put by readers for every day until the 6th I'll post my answers here, hope you enjoy readin any questions get in touch with me on twitter @cernyw or email me robscornishblog@gmail.com

“Should more power be devolved to Cornwall and, if so, in what form? 

If the answer is ‘no’, please say why not.”

For me the question: should Cornwall have more power? Is like asking if I’d like to spend my money

or if I’d like someone else to spend it. Although I might sometimes spend my money wisely and

other times come back with magic beans, it’s about choice. I’d prefer it was my decision, so I could

spend my money, on my priorities and if I end up with a beanstalk, I’ve only myself to blame!

That is the nub of it, currently our taxes travel 300 miles, there they decide how to spend it and send

the money back. People that make these decisions aren’t elected by the people of Cornwall and they

don’t have to live with their decisions day in day out. We need decision making by people that live

here and are accountable to us.


For too long we’ve seen our industries fade, earnings fall and house prices rise with little interest

from successive Westminster governments. This situation must stop. We need the powers to make

our own policies: to foster Cornish successes and address our own problems. Cornwall needs a law

making assembly.

To see Mebyon Kernow’s detailed plans for an assembly go to our website.