Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she is confident that Labour will have MPs in Cornwall after the next General Election.
The Labour MP was in Cornwall this week and visited Mylor to meet oyster fishermen.
There she heard how the fishing industry has been affected by the recently highlighted issues of sewage being discharged into rivers and the sea as well as how Brexit is impacting exports to Europe.
After speaking to Fal Oysters she explained that Labour had been pushing the Government to take action on water quality and the issue of sewage going into rivers and the sea and said that it was vital to take action to prevent businesses being harmed.
Ms Reeves was in Mylor a day after addressing the Anthropy conference at the Eden Project, where she told a packed audience that the Labour Party wanted to promote fairness and tackle inequality across Britain.
After making that pledge the Local Democracy Reporting Service asked whether a Labour Government would commit to tackling the problem of getting fairer funding for Cornwall.
She said: “When the Tories came into government 12 years ago it all started with austerity and here we are 12 years later looking into another round of austerity, why is that?
“It’s because there have been no plans for growth over the last 12 years and as a result our economy is on its knees, the Bank of England yesterday forecasting that for the next few years the UK economy will be shrinking.
“I have set out Labour’s plans to provide stability in the economy to tackle the cost of living crisis and crucially to have a plan for our economy to grow. That is why I have been talking to businesses here today in the fishing industry about some of the big challenges that they face, whether it is with sewage in our rivers and on our beaches or indeed some of the problems with the Brexit deal which have left huge holes which make it very hard for British fishermen and farmers now to export across the European Union.
“So we need to sort out the problems with pollution on our beaches and how do we fix some of the problems with the Brexit deal to make it easier, particularly for fishermen and farmers so that we can export this great produce that is made in Cornwall and across the country to Europe.”
Replacement funding
Following on from that we asked what she would do regarding the issues around the replacement of lost EU funding in Cornwall and the Shared Prosperity Funding coming to Cornwall in its place.
The Shadow Chancellor said: “There were lots of promises made in the referendum and I think people across the south west, whether it’s ambulance waiting times and promises made about NHS funding, or the Shared Prosperity Fund and the failures in managing to get it to the people who need it, there have been a lot of broken promises.
“I think the key thing is now is to fix the problems, it is not enough just to say we got Brexit done, it is essential to make Brexit work and make it work for businesses and industry here in Cornwall and elsewhere, which is why we have committed to reduce the bureaucracy, the checks and the burdens that make it so hard for businesses here to export. We produce some of the best produce in the world here in Cornwall and we should be able to sell that in bigger markets across the EU.”
Regional mayors
In her speech at Anthropy Ms Reeves said that she was keen to see more powers being devolved locally and highlighted that city and regional mayors had helped to support that, but she said it needed to go further. Would she seek that for Cornwall as well?
“I want to see decisions made closer to where people live, whether that is in Yorkshire where I am an MP or down in Cornwall. I think local leaders have a better idea about the priorities in their areas than, frankly, politicians, or civil servants in Westminster or Whitehall do which is why we are doing a review at the moment looking at the British constitution and looking at what powers, responsibilities and funding could be devolved to local areas.
“The structure is less important, in a way, than the powers and we are looking actively at how we can get more powers into the hands of local decision makers here in Cornwall. It is working really well in other parts of the country where powers have been devolved, there is a lot more we can do which will give better value to taxpayers as well because often local leaders have a better idea of how money should be spent and where it should be spend to get best value of money for local people.”
Future prospects
With all six of Cornwall’s MPs currently Conservative it will be interesting to see if that changes at the next General Election. Some polls have suggested that some seats in Cornwall could change colour when we next go to the ballot boxes and Ms Reeves is sure that there will be Labour representation in Cornwall once votes are counted.
She said: “I am out campaigning today with Jayne Kirkham, who we hope is going to be an MP here in Cornwall after the next election, and we are feeling confident and ambitious we think there are no no-go areas for Labour, including here in Cornwall, so I am looking forward to later today knocking on doors, talking to local people.
“Jayne is obviously very well known locally and a great campaigner for the local area and I have every confidence that in Westminster in a couple of years’ time or whenever the next election comes that we will have Labour representation from Cornwall in the House of Commons; that would be good for Cornwall.”
