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The UK is heading for Victorian levels of inequality

All of the Westminster parties, whether blue, red or orange tories, are guilty of a political ideology that plays on people's fears and panders to their selfishness.

We are told that poor people are to blame for all of our ills and that they are holding us back. If we could just jettison the shirkers we would all be ok.

Take a look at this video and see how fair a society we have today after more than three decades of Thatcherism.

Opportuity for all?

The UK is heading for Victorian levels of inequality

Westminster Imposed Planning

Last Tuesday saw the latest round of officer driven housing target inflation. See here.

Despite the fact that Cornwall Council, in its "Full Council, 123 elected representatives" form has already voted for a housing target of 42,000 new houses to be included in our Local Plan - the officers, cabinet members bamboozled by the officers and councillors with an interest in 'regeneration' want more. It is clear that a Local Plan will not be presented to Westminster until our elected representatives have been browbeaten into agreeing agreed with the unelected officials.

Only the evidence that is robust is allowed to carry any weight and it seems that the definition of robust is whatever supports the imposition of housing in Cornwall to meet the needs of Westminster's planning scheme.

We are told that we have to have some unknown amount of housing or else Westminster will put a red pencil line through our 'Local' Plan.

Of curse the argument that is made to try and persuade your everyday voter is that there is a housing crisis and we need to build our way out of it. We need to build affordable homes.

In Cornwall the average house costs 8 times the average wage. Most lenders will only provide a mortgage 4 times the applicants wage. This means that, to allow an average person in Cornwall to buy an average house, house prices would need to halve or wages would need to double. There is no chance of the latter and not even the gung-ho development brigade will give you any kind of figure as to how many houses would need to be built in order to reduce the cost of a house.

The problem is that the housing market doesn't work that way. If you build more houses you don't simply decrease demand in Cornwall you will increase it. This is because the vast majority of extra properties can't be bought by locals so logically must be purchased by wealthy people from outside Cornwall. Building houses will not have any significant impact on housing people who are in need in Cornwall. It will simply act to keep the average wage down because there will be more people living here without any extra jobs being created. In fact building more houses will make the situation worse.

What about affordables you ask? Well the problem is that 'affordable' in Westminster speak does not mean 'affordable' as you would find it in a dictionary. In housing terms 'affordable' has many different, convoluted definituons which really mean bugger all. And even when a developer agrees to build a small number of affordables this agreement (rarely actually carried out as initially agreed) it just means that open market house prices are inflated further to ensure that a 'reasonable' profit is made.

At the Plaid Cymru conference last week, Leanne Wood denounced the fact that Wales is a net exporter of energy and yet has the highest energy costs in the UK. She said that if the market isn't working for the public then the public should take back the market. This is the only way that Cornwall will be able to sort out its housing challenges. We need to demand control over our own planning system - root and branch. We need a national legislative assembly for Cornwall.

Nick Clegg - Master of Dreckly

Stephen Gilbert MP has attempted to chivvy Nick Clegg on devolution of a few extra powers to Cornwall Council. He has asked a nonplussed Clegg to ensure that the powers are devolved with more speed and not 'dreckly'. Of course the Deputy PM didn't have an idea of what he was talking about.

Good luck with that Steve!

I wrote to Mr Clegg back in April this year. In May I received a reply from his office which stated that my letter was receiving attention. Not heard from them since.

My substantive reply will be dreckly then I guess.

People Power!

Well done to the residents of the Penwrtha estate in Illogan!

Anyone who has visited the area will know that the open areas are kept immaculately maintained. The grass is cut, cuttings picked up and taken away, hedges trimmed and borders kept tidy. Quite simply it is a pleasure to visit and must be great to live there.

Recently Coastline wanted to replace the contractor who does such a good job and reduce their costs by replacing him with a bigger outfit. Residents knew the value of the service that they were getting as compared with simply haggling about the cost. They have campaigned to make sure that their groundsman is kept in place - even though this means they may pay a little more for the service. For once, ordinary people have taken on anonymous bureacracy and won.

This, for me, is a triumph for community over establishment profiteering. If more people in society were prepared to follow their example and stand up for the good of the community then the world would be a much better place. Well done Penwartha!

Plaid Cymru Conference 2013

As I was packing up my Mebyon Kernow roll-up banner a conference delgate came over and said how much he had enjoyed my speech and that it had challenged his view of Cornwall. If there had been nothing else to take away from Aberystwyth, the 600 mile round trip would have been worth it for those words alone. For me that was one of the objectives of going to Wales, to challenge the false assertion, continuosly ingrained by our English dominated education system that Cornwall is just an administrative county of England.

Yet there was so much more to bring back from Cymru.

There was the sense of purpose and determination that Plaid has a plan and knows exactly where it is going. A plan which is distinctly bereft of Tory principles, in stark contrast to any of the big Westminster parties. A plan for government and leadership of Wales rather than being content with a junior coalition role. A plan to put Wales first - whether it's by Plaid's committment to providing 1000 new doctors or by tackling a failing energy market. A market which has meant that while, in net terms, Wales exports energy, the people of Wales still pay more in proportion than anywhere else in the UK. "How is that fair? .... If the markets are failing the public then it is time that the public take back the markets"

But it's not just Leanne Wood's key note speech or the appearances on national TV. Plaid Cymru is not just a one trick pony like UKIP with their fags and booze leader Nigel Farage.

The breadth and depth of their expertise and experience is growing all the time. Whether it's the headline grabbing, charismatic Rhun ap Iowerth - taking the recent Anglesey bye-election with a staggering 58% of the vote, or the professionals - the businessmen, economists and banking specialists that are joining the party in ever increasing numbers. Plaid is a party built on teamwork and shared responsibility. Building on the bedrock of generations of Welsh nationalism and reaching for the stars.

The message is that the current Welsh government is bereft of ideas and if they don't act to take Wales forward then the next Plaid led government will.

And it's not just Leanne Wood leading from the front that is driving Plaid forward. The backbone of Plaid, the local councillors and activists, are keeping the party grounded and insisting that people are put at the centre of policy. Working tirelessly to make sure that people are put before bureacracy and that doing the right thing is put before party politics. These are the people that are really making the difference.

For me the lesson of #PC13 and the last two years is summed up by Ben Stein when he said:

"Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face and then reach for the stars."

My speech at the 2013 Plaid Conference

Below is the text of my speech given at the Plaid Cymru conference in Aberystwyth.

Charles � Prince of Wales - Duke of Cornwall � he received 19 million pounds from the Duchy of Cornwall last year. Let me put that another way for you - whenever His Royal Highness goes to bed he earns over 19 and a half thousand pounds just by getting a solid nine hours sleep � that�s more than either the average Welsh or Cornish person earns for a whole year of hard work � this is something that the people of Wales and Cornwall have in common.

Hedhyw, mall yw genev a vires orth nebes taklow a gevren Kembra ha Kernow.  Keffrys � orth diwedh ow thermyn genowgh � my a vynn govyn orthowgh hwi oll konsydra gul unn dra pur sempel. Neppyth a allsa agan gweres, an werin a drig dhe West a�n Tamar, yn agan kaskyrgh rag digresennans rag Kernow.

Ond yn gyntaf hoffwn ddiolch i chi am adael i mi siarad � chi i gyd heddiw - diolch yn fawr! Diolch yn fawr hefyd i'r t�m sydd wedi trefnu dau ddiwrnod mor ddiddorol a llawn gwybodaeth. Rwyf wedi teithio tri Chan milltir i fod yma ac mae hi wedi bod yn werth chweil. Dw i'n mwynhau croeso cynnes a chwmpeini gwych - diolch yn fawr.

Of course Plaid Cymru has a record of supporting us Cornish nationalists - across the Celtic Sea in Cornwall. Many Plaid members have visited the Duchy of Cornwall and provided encouragement and motivation for the members of the Party for Cornwall.

But there are two people in particular that I would like to take this opportunity to thank in person. First of all - our inspirational leader - Leanne Wood. I only became interested in politics about three or four years ago. I had been living in Cornwall for a couple of years and I joined Mebyon Kernow � the Party for Cornwall. In becoming a Cornish nationalist, my eyes were opened to the injustices suffered by the other constituent nations of the UK. I joined Plaid Cymru in early 2012 and one of my first actions as a member of Plaid was to vote in the leadership contest. I voted for Leanne as someone that I thought would be brave and bold and who would challenge the Unionist establishment head on. I have to say that I haven�t been disappointed. Under Leanne�s leadership, Plaid has challenged unionism, tory ideology and red tory hypocrisy in Wales and at Westminster.

My Cornish friends and I will strive to hold the Unionist establishment to account in Cornwall - as effectively as Plaid Cymru is doing in Wales with Leanne at the helm.

Also I must say thank you to Jonathan Edwards. Thank you for taking the time out from a busy schedule as a relatively new MP and making the trip to darkest Cornwall.

Jonathan attended our 60^th anniversary conference in 2011 and he also went on to put down an early day motion in the Commons. The EMD noted Mebyon Kernow�s achievement in obtaining 50,000 declarations for a Cornish Assembly in 2001 and Jonathan called on the government to form such an assembly.

I remember Jonathan�s speech at our conference that year - it discussed the crisis facing Unionism. If anything, that speech is becoming more and more relevant as the months go by. Thank you Jonathan.

And talking about the crisis facing unionism - Thursday 18^th September 2014 and the days following Scotland�s referendum will be fascinating to live through and remember - and I hope that Wales will get its own chance to vote on independence very soon afterwards.

But, now - to return to my theme � what do Wales and Cornwall have in common.

Well - there is genetics for a start. The Welsh people and the Cornish are cousins - the indigenous peoples of the British Isles who were here long before successive waves of Romans, Vikings and Anglo Saxons plundered their way from the East.

Each has a Brythonic language � Welsh and Cornish are still very similar even though people now using these languages were separated some fifteen hundred years ago.

And we both know that we form a nation in our own right. That we are best served by shaping our own destiny - by making our own way in emerging global communities. Not by being separatist - as unionists would make out � but through close co-operation with others. Close co-operation which is on equal terms and not based on us being dependent.

On a lighter note both Wales & Cornwall have the odd male voice choir, both are extremely good at digging holes whether it�s for coal or for tin � and, of course, both enjoy beating the English at rugby!

But we also face similar challenges. We suffer from a lack of investment. A lack of investment in our health care, a lack of investment in our schools, a lack of investment in our infrastructure, jobs, technology and sport and the list goes on. As a result our GDP is depressed - depressed to the point that we both qualify for support from the European Union as two of the poorest regions of Europe.

However, we both know for sure that we are not to poor, not too small and not too stupid to put these things right for ourselves given the tools to do so.

Another challenge that we share is a lack of opportunity to make our case for devolution or independence to the ordinary woman or man on the street. Biased media and establishment institutions mean that we have to work harder to get the same bang for our buck - to get the same level of information out to the public that unionist politicians do with ease.

Here in Wales Plaid Cymru struggles to get a fair report when it achieves success. Can I just take a moment, on behalf of Mebyon Kernow, to congratulate Rhun ap Iorweth on his stunning victory in the recent Ynys Mon election. Well done Rhun keslowena! A Plaid Cymru candidate achieved 58% of the vote � truly spectacular - yet what do the Unionist press concentrate on - the fact that UKIP came third � that level of bias is quite simply breath-taking.

And we in Cornwall face a similar challenge - but for us Cornish nationalists the challenge is compounded by a media bias which denies that there is even a nation for us to be nationalist about. Our challenge is dealing with unionist institutions which play down - and usually deny - the very existence of the Cornish nation. And this is the point where I want to ask you all to consider doing one simple thing that would help us immeasurably in our campaign for devolution.

What we need is recognition. We need to be able to communicate to the people of Cornwall that we deserve, as of right, to be considered a country separate to England. If we could show that other nations shared our knowledge and belief it would help us no end. This is the simple thing that I want to ask you to do for us.

When you talk to the media about the constituent nations of the Island of Britain � when you talk about Wales, Scotland and England could you occasionally just throw Cornwall into the mix?

Just imagine if the next time that Leanne Wood is on Question Time she mentioned Cornwall alongside Wales and Scotland. Can you imagine the effect that would have on the morale of our members? Can you imagine what questions people, brainwashed by Westminster propaganda, would begin to ask? And just imagine the discomfort that this would cause unionist bigots?

So there you are. Thank you for allowing me to speak here today. Thank you for listening to some of the things that I believe Wales and Cornwall share. And remember - please include Cornwall in the list of countries that are not England.

Diolch.

A Cornish Legislative Assembly - twelve months to get the message across

With just twelve months to go, the subject of Scottish independence and what this might mean for the UK is suddenly becoming very news worthy.

Even Mebyon Kernow has been allowed some air time - which makes a pleasant change to normal!

As you would expect, Mebyon Kernow already has very detailed policies on a Cornish Assembly. Unfortunately we have not always been too good at communicating those details - either to the people of Cornwall or, indeed, to our own members. The current members' consultation will confirm the policies that are in place, codify and clarify them and allow members to update them where necessary. We will then be in a much better position to take the battle to unioinists in this important period before the Scottish referendum.

The final draft of our new and codified policy, based on what the members are saying, will be put before the delegates at our conference on Saturday November 16th (put the date in your diaries). Then, with the members' final approval we can begin to take the battle to oppnents of democracy in a positive, detailed and consistent way. I say opponents of democracy - that is because the Party for Cornwall believes that the golden thread, the thread that runs through all of the arguments surrounding devoltion is democracy. The people of Cornwall, people who work here and live here, should have the right to say how decisions that affect Cornwall are taken. MK believes that those decisions should be taken by the people of Cornwall rather than an office full of suits 300 miles away in Westminster.

In the meantime I would like to think that we can start to debunk some of the myths that unionist politicians and advocates are keen to peddle when it comes to devolution for Cornwall.

For example it is important that we make it absolutely clear that a legislative Cornish Assembly would not be an expensive extension to local government but a national body capable of making strategic decisions for Cornwall. A body that can map a way forward in these difficult economic times - a map that doesn't have London at its centre.

Also, all too often opponents of devolution ask how much it will all cost. How can poor little Cornwall afford to survive by itself?

This is actually two myths rolled into one.

First, there is a big difference between devolution and independence. It is not Mebyon Kernow policy that Cornwall should be independent from the UK. It is our policy that we should have a devolved Assembly within the UK. Devolution would not mean that Cornwall would be abandoned and left out in the cold - just that there would be a greater degree of democracy in decion making.

Secondly, devolution would not cost either Cornish tax payers or any other UK tax payers anything more than it already costs to administer Cornwall. In fact it would very likely save tax payers money - or better still allow for greater investment. Westminster gathers taxes and spends them. What we are calling for is the ability to decide how to spend the money that Westminster spends for us. Mebyon Kernow has the confidence to believe in the people of Cornwall - in fact we are sure that Cornwall could do a better job than Westminster and that, therefore, an increase in Cornish GDP would raise more revenue for both Cornwall and the UK as a whole.

Cornish Nationalists have a very exciting twelve months ahead of us. We need to make the most of those months to get our message across.

Consultation or rubber stamp for a U-turn?

Less than seven months ago - just before the elections surprisingly enough - Alex Folkes wrote on his blog:

 

Cornish Liberal Democrats are today announcing a budget alternative which would see council tax frozen for a third straight year. 

�Our budget alternative stands in stark contrast to the official budget proposal of the Conservative-led council,� said Cllr Jeremy Rowe, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Cornwall Council.  

�Where they promise a council tax rise, we will freeze it. Where they propose service cuts, we have found the money to reverse many of the harshest.

�Last year, council tax was only frozen because the Liberal Democrats campaigned for it.

What a difference a few months and an election make.

For three years mebyon Kernow have been warning of the black hole at the centre of Cornwall Council's  budget but now Cllr Folkes argues that circumstances have changed and a rethink on council tax levels may now be necessary. Of course it won't be a U-turn because the council are running a series of consultations. Instead of a U-turn we will be told that the council is listening and prepared to consider any proposal.

The funny thing is though - in the middle of the consultation - when the cllr Folkes is keen to listen, he lambasts political opponents UKIP for suggesting that a referendum be held to consider a 5% rise.

The Liberal Democrats have no principles apart from seeking to be elected. The circumstances that we are faced with now were entirely foreseeable. The plan to reduce local government funding (which the Liberal Democrats in Westminster have imposed) was clear three years ago - the problem is that now Liberal Democrats at Lys Kernow are faced with its consequences.

Mebyon Kernow has consistenly argued that the Lib Dem/Conservative coalition is responsible for rapidly destroying the efficacy of local government. Under the disguise of austerity it has cut budgets far beyond those of other categories of government spending. We have argued for small increases year on year and if the local Westminster parties at New County Hall had looked at what would be best for Cornwall in the long term (instead of competing to be the party of lowest taxation) then the council's budget might have been some 8.24% higher next year than the current levels - without any need for a referendum. We would still be facing massive cuts and the loss of front line services but the end result wouldn't have been as dire as the consequences we are facing right now.

HS2

The HS2 railway project is in trouble. Costs are spiralling out of control and more and more evidence points towards there being much less economic benefit evn compared to what was originally claimed - never mind for those of us not really connected with London. Yet the coalition doggedly pursues this white elephant out of stubborn refusal to do yet another U-turn.

This project is another clear example of why Cornwall would be better off with a devolved assembly of its own.

Jonathan Edwards MP, Transport Spokesman for Plaid Cymru, is demanding a �1.9bn payment for Wales if the HS2 project goes ahead. He argues that HS2 clearly has no benefit whatsoever for Wales and that calculations using the Barnett formula (used to adjust spending allocations for devolved governments) would justify extra money for Wales as a consequence of investment in England.

Mr Edwards points out that, just like Albani and Moldova (and Cornwall), Wales doesn't even have any electrified rail lines.

How much better would we be able to organise our own transport system and make necessary investments if we had control over our own budget? Just like Wales, Cornwall will see no benefit from HS2 and yet we will be paying for investment in London's connectivity.

Some people say Cornwall can't afford autonomy. I say a lack of devolution to Cornwall is costing us much needed investment!

Assembly Policy Update

Thank you for all the contributions with regard to our 'Legislative Cornish Assembly' policy review.

The first stage consultation ends on September 30th and work has now begun on drawing together the various strands of policy into a comprehensve draft document for a second stage consultation and debate at the conference.

There is, clearly, still time for you to contribute to the first stage or register an interest to receive the draft second stage document as soon as it is published.

Contact me at starichardson@btinternet.com if you wish to contribute.

The Cost of Localism

I have blogged many times on the sham localism espoused by the coalition government. How local people don't have any real say in how their locality is developed apart from condoning the local authority plan. A local plan through which unelected officers constantly pressurise our elected councillors to increase the number of houses to be built in order to have it approved by Westminster.

Over the last few weeks, in my role as chairman of the Illogan planning committee, it has also become clear how much the odds are stacked against local people in economic terms as well as democratic terms.

One application on the boundary of Illogan illustrates this well. The owners of the award winning holiday village of Gwel an Mor want to renegue on their committment to build more holiday let chalets. They now want them to become permanent residences. Their reason is because they aren't able to sell the chalets off plan and without selling the chalets they can't fund further development of the site. Of course the thrust of their argument concentrates on the jobs that will be provided and the additional leisure facilities that might be available to the local community if only they are allowed to build full time residences instead of holiday lets.

The planning statement that covers the application is basically pages and pages of rehashing of the NPPF with a sprinkling of the 'emerging' Cornwall Local Plan. This means it is full of jargon and rhetorical hyperbolae and almost devoid of any substance as to why the application is actually in line with any development plan. The problem is that unless you are a planning professional in some way it is very hard to see through it. It takes a determination to do background reading of hundreds of pages of, quite frankly, boring rubbish to distill what is being (not) said.

The result of this is that concerned locals don't have a chance to even begin to object in the language required to be effective. Locals who have a gut feeling about the harm and damage that will be done tend to talk about a loss of a view rather than restate policy numbers x, y and z and, of course, the loss of a view is not a 'materila planning consideration'. The point that I am trying to make is that local residents and volunteers on parish councils are not paid professionals. The planning system is rigged, it is equivalent to sending a bunch of teenage conscripts to fight an elite, and well equiped, veteran regular army regiment - as the results all too often show.

The 'Neighbourhood Development Plan' is just about the only weapon that the establishment has provided to combat institutional hyper-development. It is a very ineffective weapon - but it's all we have. The problem is that, yet again, it will cost money. For just a small parish a neighbourhood plan might cost tens of thousands of pounds - for a larger town council the cost might be �100k. Local people will have to fund, through their precepts, the only chance they have of combatting Westminster driven development.

Every way you turn, both institutionally and economically, the fight against unwanted development is stacked against you.

Redruth and District AGM

It was the Redruth & District branch of MK AGM last night.

There was a brief business part to the meeting where we received a report from the retiring chairman, Lawrence Molton, and then elected offides for the coming year.

Following the business part we welcomed guests to a social event - A Cornucopia of Cornish Cinema. We were treated to several short films all made in Cornwall. May thanks to Rod Toms for providing the show and for keeping this archive of films ranging from wing walking at St Austell to Will Coleman's award winnin, Horn of Plenty.

I was elected as chairman, with new officers Loveday Jenkin (vice chairman) and Chris Lawrence (treasurer).

Over the coming year I hope to coordinate our efforts to build on the sound economic position that the branch has been able to build over the last year and to increase our active mebership.

One of the most urgent tasks that faces us is the selection of a candidate for the Westminster elections in 2015 - a task that will be shared with our Camborne and Hayle MK neighbours.

Many thanks to Lawrence Molton for all the hard work that he has put in during a Cornwall Council election year.

If you live in or around Redruth, and would like to see a better deal for Cornwall, please get in touch.

.... and so it begins

The poor global economic conditions have protected us, to a small extent, from the hyperdevelopment projects over the last few years. Many developers have simply not been building because they know that the ridiculously expensive prices that they would want to charge would mean that their houses would not get sold.

But recently that seems to be changing and the bulldozers and construction gangs seem set to return to a green field near you very soon.

Last Tuesday I attended a public meeting in Park Bottom. The meeting was both encouraging and frustrating.

It was encouraging because there were a large number of people who were prepared to get together to fight the concreting over of open spaces in their community. It was frustrating because, whatever the strength of feeling in opposition to the two latest schemes that are being mooted to blight Park Bottom and Illogan, you know that the odds are stacked very heavily in favour of developers and against residents.

This is ConDem localism. You can paint the colours of the front doors whatever shade of suburban homogeneity you wish - but you will get the houses - whether you want them or not.

Big national and global development organisations spend millions of pounds lobbying Westminster. They demonstrate the need to build hundreds of thousands of new homes and to provide 'affordable' houses for the hard pressed hoi polloi. At the same time the people of Park Bottom will find it hard to resist the leviathan of central government, convinced to act by the construction lobby groups, as it dictates that the concreting over of Cornwall should resume with even greater vigour.

Illogan is represented by a Conservative Cornwall Councillor, Terry Wilkins, and a Conservative MP, George Eustice. Both are on record as supposedly opposing development in their own back yards. George Eustice famously criticised the 'bonkers' housing targets of the now defunct Labout government Regional Spatial Strategy. Cllr Wilkins spoke with eloquence on Tuesday about how he was opposed to the developments coming forward in Illogan.

Now don't get me wrong. I will be grateful for any help that Messrs Eustice and Wilkins might be able to provide in resisting the destruction of our community's open spaces. I wil be grateful if they can hep to prevent the joining together of separate villages into a single suburban sprawl - but what we need is action and not rhetoric.

People tell me that there is no room for party politics in local politics.

I say that is nonsense. If our local political representatives, members of the Conservative party, were serious about combatting hyperdevelopment they would lobby their central office more rigorously. They would shout in the corridors of power that 'presumption in favour of sustainable [sic] development' is taking away the ability of people to shape their own living spaces. Instead they indulge in populist rhetoric at home while they toady obsequiously to their bosses in Lys Kernow and Westminster.

Of course they tell me you shouldn't have party politics at a local level - lack of opposition enables Westminster politicians to stand with feet firmly planted on both sides of the fence. To 'support' their local community with one breath in the village hall and undermine it with another at central office.

In the meantime what can we do to protect our towns and villages?

We need to get Neighbourhood Plans in place. Though they can't reverse development, or even stop it in its tracks, they can make it harder for developers to go over the the amount of housing alloted to us by Westminster.

And we need to become more savvy with the planning language and jargon of the local government officers and Westminster ministers. We need to learn how to play the game by their rules without relying on our local London representatives to do it for us. If our local Westminster politicians won't act to change the rules more in our favour then we can either accept our fate or develop a more potent arsenal. We can learn more about 'material planning conditions' and where to get the informatuion and data from to back up our fears and concerns and demonstrate the folly of hyperdevelopment.

Most importantly, though, we need to act now - tomorrow may be too late.

Mebyon Kernow - Cornish Assembly Policy (update)

I have had quite a few responses to the members consultation paper.

There seems to be a consensus around most of the main points with some different ideas coming forward in a small number of areas.

The first stage consultation ends in September when a draft policy will be produced for further consultation.

The plan is to produce a final draft for our conference which will incorporate various options for members to debate on the day. The debates will be around the few areas where there have been substantially differing views expressed.

If you are a member of MK and want to have a say in your party's policies then get in touch before the end of the consultation period. We are a party of democracy. We don't employ 'thinktanks' or expensive consultants to create populist policy which has electability as its main priority rather than political principle.

This newly configured policy will be the first step in a codification of our policies and principles for use by our branches and individual candidates.

Cornwall Council 'how to approve a planning application' training

Last night I went to a Cornwall Council 'basic planning' training session for councillors.

I was disappointed really.

Parish and Town councils are statutory consultees. We have three options when we receive a planning application. We can approve, not object or object.

The majority of applications that we see are fairly straightforward and make sense so are approved quite quickly.

However, there are often applications that just seem wrong. This is where, I feel, that town and parish councillors need help. We need to be shown how to make an effective objection to something that appears to be wrong for our community. The training provided is hopeless for this.

We are told that the only way to object is to cite 'material planning considerations'. The problem is that these days anything may or may not be a MPC. Last night we were given two convolouted definitions that needed to be met in order for something to be a MPC. We were told that there was no definitive list as to what was or was not a MPC (though we were then, confusingly, given a list of things that were or were not???)

We also looked at three scenarios based on real life applications from outside Cornwall. In each case the parish council had objected and been ignored by the planning officers. The subliminal message seemed to be that "it's no good objecting - you won't get anywhere anyway".

Another worrying fact that emerged was that where a town or parish did make an objection, that objection needed to get the support of the local Cornwall Council member before the application went to committee. This is the very reverse of localism. CC members may, as we have seen in May, have very littke local knowledge and may not even live close to their ED. Why is it that they have more say on an issue than the people on the ground in the community?

Illogan School Crossing Patrol

Apologies for not blogging much recently - I am in the throes of moving house at the moment (deeper into Illogan :-) ) and so I am dreaming about boxes and putting stuff in them!

I have been working with a group of Illogan residents recently to try and get a School Crossing Patrol put in place at 'the Platt' in Illogan.

The Platt is a conjunction of 5 roads and for parents who wish to take advantage of the walk through Manningham Wood down into school it is a hazardous place.

Quite often there are cars parked close to the junctions which, when added to busy traffic and a lack of footpaths, makes it very hard to cross the road for parents with puschairs and primary school age children in tow.

At the meeting of Illogan Parish Council on Wednesday we got a unanimous vote in favour of supporting the action group and we have received initial suppport from Illogan School.

We will be taking the campaign to Cornwall Council next - hopefully we may get a patrol in place for the new academic year.

IPC PLanning Committee

It was the first meeting of the new IPC planning committee tonight.

The first agenda item was to elect a new chairman. A few minutes later I was taking the chair having been elected - a total surprise.

I am very proud to have the opportunity to serve the committee and so the council as a whole  in this role and would like to thank the other Members for showing faith in me to be able to do the job.

IPC planning committee also looks after the coulcil's amenities and with the stated aim of the council to meet the challenges of devolution head on and to be proactive in taking on community assets the members on this committee will be seeing a lot of work.

I also hope to be able to help with setting up the process for Illogan to create its own Neighbourhood Plan - which will clearly be in close association with the planning committee.

A great day

Cornwall 26 - 35 Lancashire

So near .....

What an amzing day.

Cornwall almost created an upset by beating Lancashire at Twickenham yesterday.

Unfortunately the Cornish team gifted Lancashire a couple of easy tries in the first half which proved too difficult a moutain to overcome depsite a passionate performance from the heart in the second period.

We almost made it - getting back to within a couple of points with a few minutes remaining - "... with one and all and hand in hand and who shall tell us nay"

The 10,000 or so Cornish supporters were right there, almost tangibly on the pitch with the team, willing Cornwall on the whole way - but it wasn't to be.

A proud day for Cornwall.

Westminster politics again!

Cllr Andrew Wallis has been passed a missive from the Tory 'high command' addressed to Tory Cornwall Councillors.

The email directive (apart from displaying appalling grammar, sometimes making it hard to understand) shows how Westminster party politics operates in Cornwall.

Rather than concentrating on what is good for Cornwall it is all about what is good for the Tory party - especially with a general election beginning to loom on the political horizon.

It also reveals the 'career' mindset of a lot of Westminster politicians. Apparently some Tories don't want to be wasting their time by doing a job of representing the people who voted for them.

The Trelawney Army - On the March to Twickenham

Cornwall 41 - 29 Herts

The Trelawney Army are busy buying tickets, arranging travel and  booking accommodation after Cornwall beat Hertfordshire yesterday at Camborne.

In the end Cornwall were easily the better side on the day, though at half time it was looking a bit scary.

Two early, inspired second half tries, going down the slope put Cornwall back in the driving street and flashes of brilliance from the backs and dogged determination and a refusal to consider giving up the ball from the pack combined with never say die defence to ensure that, in the end, it was Kernow who celebrated.

It was an honour and privilege to watch.

Heartfelt commiserations must go to Herts and many congratulations to Camborne Rugby Club who made sure that the event was supremely well organised, with the ground looking immaculate.

First Day of Term

This evening was the Illogan Annual Parish Meeting and the first meeting of the new Illogan Parish Council.

The Annual meeting was over in 15 minutes, unfortunately with no public participation.

The main business of the council meeting was sorting out the various committees and membership of them.

The main difference to the previous council was that we decided to create a 'Devolution Committe'. We have formed a committee which will have a specific responsibilty to deal with opportunities for devolution of assets and services from Cornwall Council.

The new council has started on a very positive note. All the councillors are serving on at least one committee and as a group we are detremined to make the best of any opportunity that presents itself to us.

Better Together?

David Cameron has been advocating that the only certain way for Scotland to remain part of the EU after the referendum on independence is to say NO.

Yet we are told the Conservative party is the only one that will deliver an in/out refrendum to leave the EU.

Does anyone else feel that this really is party politics at its worse? Trying to scare Scottish voters on one hand and desperately attempting to survive the UKIP tsunami on the other. Where is his principle - the belief that a particular course of action is best for the people he purports to lead.

How does he square the circle?

If his party are pushed and pulled by UKIP into taking us out of the EU shouldn't he now encourage voters in Scotland to vote YES if they want to stay in Europe - the SNP are far more committed to this than any government he is likely to head up.

Strong Leadership Model = Weak Governance for Cornwall

Thursday 2nd May - election day.

14th May - we still don't have a leader never mind a cabinet?

How long does it take to sort out a 'Rainbow Coalition'?

The problem is that a rainbow coalition isn't likely to be anything of the sort.

Yet this is not necessarily the councillors' fault - it is down to the cabinet system.

Under the present system the councillors elect a leader who then appoints a cabinet. If one party had a majority it wouldn't be a problem. The majority party would select their leader as council leader and then (s)he would appoint party members as cabinet members.

However, we have no clear majority and no obvious coalition of two groups. So this means that hours of  'behind closed doors' negotiations are going on. Not only is the leader being decided beforehand but also the cabinet positions - in other words councillors are agreeing to pledge to vote for a particular leader as long as (s)he agrees to appoint a pre-determined cabinet. Trouble is that's a lot of horse trading.

It's also going to present problems in the future because whoever is appointed leader (and he Council's whole cabinet) will be on very unstable ground. If the leader upsets too many people then they are likely to face a vote of no-confidence and then this whole process is going to have to start over again.

This is the problem with the cabinet or 'strong leadership' model of governance that the previous council selected for this council. When you don't have a strong leadership you don't have an easily workable system.

Problems will arise in the coming months and years not because of 'party politics' but because of a lack of a strong leadership. Many issues that will arise will divide the opinions of councillors, whether or not it is along party lines. There will be constant disagreements because different people will believe that their solution is the best for Cornwall.

The strong leader model, without a strong leader, is going to be very weak.

Defections and Party Politics

So Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons has defected from the Tory party.

Though actually he hasn't - just in Cornwall?

On the Lawrence Reed show Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons claims to have defected from the Tories to the Independents on the ground that that was what the people that he represented wanted of him.

He said that if he had declared as an Independent rather than a Tory before the elction then people may have thought it was a 'cynical ploy' just to get re-elected.

So declaring himself  'independent'  before an election and making sure that voters knew exactly what they were electing would have been a cynical ploy whereas defecting days after he had been elected a Cornwall Councillor (and, coincidentally, also not to be elected to the Conservative leadership team) was not?

He also invoked  the old chestnut that people don't want party politics at Cornwall Council and that was what his electors were telling him.

The problem with this 'no party politics at local level' is that it is a nonsense.

Cllr Earthorne-Gibbons is still a Tory, just not on Cornwall Council. He still talks and acts like a Tory but now he is supposedly an 'Independent'.

If every councillor on Cornwall Council were an Independent then groups of people would regularly vote the same way on different issues. You would still have people pro and anti privatisation of services, for and against hyper development etc and these people would broadly align along party political lines even if they weren't officially members of a party.

There is nothing wrong with party politics in local governemnt as long as the issues are a matter of principle for the party members involved. Where the problem starts is when self-interest creeps in. When members of a party act, not in what they believe is the best interest of Cornwall, but in the best ineterest of their party and so themselves. This is what people are fed up with.

As a result of Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons defection the Lib Dems and 'Independent Group' now have an equal number of councillors. I wonder if any of Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons' voters would begin to wonder whether, if he ends up with a cabinet post as an independent, non-party politics is still open to self promotion and self-interest in the same way that political parties are accused? Don't forget that, in Cornwall, the 'Independent Group' is pretty much a paty in its own right.

If Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons really wanted to get away from party politics then maybe he should resign and stand as a 'stand alone' independent. If he really believes what he would have us believe then he would be  re-elected with an increased majority. It's not going to happen though.

Comprehensive Cornish Assembly Policy Review

After the hectic Unitary election campaign in April you might have thought that there would have been a month or two for Mebyon Kernow members to relax � no chance!

We are starting work on reviewing the party�s �Legislative Cornish Assembly Policy� and we want members' input.

It is intended that the policy that emerges from the review will be the most detailed and comprehensive policy that we have ever produced on this subject and will provide a document that will allow our councillors, candidate and activists to answer the questions that are frequently asked about the feasibility of a Cornish Assembly on the doorstep and in the press room.

The first stage of the policy review, a members� consultation, is now beginning and will last until September 30^th 2013. We need to know what areas members think should be included in the policy and any ideas or suggestions that you may have. Your input will then form part of the data and research that the policy team will consider as they create a first draft of the policy. There will be a further chance for members to provide input once that draft has been completed.

If you would like to be involved in the policy making process then contact me and I will email a pdf of the consultation document to you. It is also hoped that a new members' forum at mebyonkernow.org will soon provide a useful vehicle for discussions.