Andy Burnham, the likely new Prime Minister, is a strong proponent of devolution. More than anywhere else, Cornwall’s devolution settlement will be indicative of Burnham’s appetite for pragmatism…over ideology. There are three factors that I will be impressing on the new Burnham administration in relation to Cornish devolution:
Firstly, with Council of Europe National Minority Status, there remains political consensus for devolution, but only on a Cornwall-only footprint. This was highlighted when Labour, Lib Dems, Conservatives, Greens, Mebyon Kernow, and Independents voted 56-4 in the Cornwall Council motion last year. Reform was split. We all know the cultural reasons why this strength of feeling is so strong but Cornish MPs also need to stress in Westminster that Cornwall has a well-established and stable unity authority which has administered £100s of millions of economic development funding for decades, firstly EU Objective One Funding and then Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF).
But what did the EU recognise in Cornwall that Westminster has consistently overlooked? This is the second key factor. It’s still the case ‘up the line’ that when most people consider Cornwall, they think of natural beauty, beach holidays, pasties and cream teas. We all know that beneath the picture postcard image lies a more complex reality – described as ‘pretty poverty’. Wages below national average, employment precarious and seasonal, and with one of the UK’s worst housing crises, compounded by huge numbers of short-term holiday lets and second homes, forcing coastal locals inland into towns like Camborne and Redruth, further creating inflationary pressures in the rental sector. Although homes have been built in recent years, they have been unaffordable – the target market being second homers or retirees from England. This in-migration of wealthier retirees inflates average income data, masking severe deprivation and resulting in a budgetary framework – reinforced by the Treasury’s Green Book – that systematically underestimates Cornwall’s need.
But thirdly, and most compellingly, Cornwall is slowly but surely on the way to becoming one of the UK’s most strategically important economic frontiers, contributing billions to UK plc and regenerating local communities. Our critical mineral resources are, quite simply, vast. Cornish tin is the second highest grade in the world at a time when analysts are predicting an imminent global shortage. Lithium extraction could add £5bn to UK plc, support domestic production of over 700,000 EVs, and create thousands of high skilled, stable jobs. A modest investment in Falmouth Docks, the world’s third deepest natural harbour, would create the key hub for floating off-shore wind maintenance and operations. We have world-class reputations in marine technology and space communications, at Goonhilly Earth Station. Properly supported, these sectors will anchor domestic supply chains, reduce reliance on imports, and ensure economic benefits of decarbonisation are felt in communities that, for far too long, have been left behind.
With no need for any local government reorganisation, Cornwall is ready, willing and able to move fast on devolution. To achieve that, my ask of Andy Burnham is: “Please leave the devo dogma at the door, take a pragmatic approach and unleash the Cornish Celtic Tiger.”
