The House of Lords is an anachronism that has no place in a modern democracy. From my perspective, it is wrong that people get appointed to a second chamber for life. I know that the Labour Party’s most recent manifesto stated it is “committed to replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the regions and nations.” But I am really disappointed at the speed, which they are seeking to deal with this archaic…
The leader of Mebyon Kernow, Cllr Dick Cole, has tabled a cross-party motion to be debated at the next meeting of Cornwall Council. The motion has been written to bring people together to support meaningful devolution to Cornwall and to oppose any cross-Tamar “combined authority” deals. All Group Leaders were invited to be co-signatures to the motion. It has already been backed by Leigh Frost (Lib Dem Group Leader) and Loic Rich (Independent Group Leader) The motion is as follows: This…
At today’s extraordinary meeting of Plymouth City Council, councillors voted by 38 votes to one to support the “establishment of a South West Peninsula Mayoral Strategic Authority” and that the proposed authority should “encompass the combined geography of Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay.” There were four abstentions. Commenting on behalf of Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall, Cllr Dick Cole said: “The decision of Plymouth City Council to vote for the “establishment of a South West Peninsula Mayoral Strategic Authority,”…
The UK Government’s “English Devolution White Paper” was published on Monday 16th December. As expected, it did not include home rule for Cornwall. The document specified three potential tiers of new powers, though all were much less substantive than the democratic settlements enjoyed by the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland. Cynics, such as me, would describe the new proposals as tweaks to local government, rather than Celtic-style devolution. The White Paper makes it clear that the Government will only allow…
Following the publication of the UK Government’s “English Devolution White Paper,” Mebyon Kernow has issued an initial statement. The statement is as follows: “Mebyon Kernow is campaigning for a Cornish Devolution Bill, which reflects Cornwall’s nationhood and the national minority status of the Cornish. It is nonetheless extremely worrying that the Government’s ‘English Devolution’ White Paper is so dismissive of Cornwall’s aspirations. “The document appears to have identified three tiers of devolution – (1) a Foundation Strategic Authority (without a mayor)…
Mebyon Kernow has hit out at the decision of the UK Government to impose a mandatory housing target of 4,421 units per annum on Cornwall. This is nearly 70% up on the present Local Plan target of 2,625. It is also roughly the same as the figure in the consultation document [4,454], showing that representations from Cornwall for a lower number have been ignored. MK councillor Andrew Long has described the new target as “both unsustainable and unachievable.” He added that…
