My Priorities

Preventing folk from starving and freezing is the greatest immediate challenge we face from 13 years of Conservative failure. Having knocked on thousands of doors across Camborne, Redruth, Hayle, the issue of most concern to voters is how they are going to feed and heat themselves and their families. Over the last decade we have seen a steady erosion of household disposable income. The Conservative government had lost control of inflation, and too many working people are in insecure, low wage jobs. Our new Labour government will have to tackle this issue as a matter of priority, head on.

As the new MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, I managed to persuade a Conservative-led Council to declare a Food Poverty Emergency, including a number of key commitments that will ensure that no one in the area should go hungry. In opposition, rather than pointless petitions, practical action to deal with the worst excesses of Conservative failure is what is required in areas such as Close Hill, Treleigh, Pengegon and East Pool Park. In Government, as your Labour MP, I am fighting to ensure that the principle of ‘no one goes hungry’ is at its core.

Decimated by years of Conservative institutional vandalism and neglect. As the son of a doctor and a nurse, it pains me to see the state of our NHS. Labour created the NHS in 1948 and a Labour government rescued it in 1990s. After a decade of deliberate Conservative neglect, our wonderful NHS is on its knees again. Short of people and investment, our doctors and nurses are fighting against the tide. Ambulances queueing with poorly patients at Treliske while waiting for beds, is a sign of a fractured institution.

Local nurses regularly tell me of the difficulties they face, working in such an environment. And because of our broken social care system, again under-resourced, under-paid and under-valued, the knock on effect on the NHS is catastrophic.

Labour will create a new health and social care system that ensures the right care is delivered, at the right time to the right people. But there’s no hiding from the fact that the NHS needs massive investment in buildings and people. As your Labour MP, I will be campaigning to ensure that both in-season and out-of-season, Cornish folk receive the quality of health and social care we need.

We need Cornish solutions to Cornish challenges. To achieve this we need a devolution deal that empowers us to manage our own destiny. In order to achieve a reformed housing market, a rejuvenated health and social care system, a Green Industrial Revolution and to protect our cultural heritage, we need to have a greater say in our own affairs in Cornwall. For too long we have been forced to accept policies from Westminster that simply do not fit our Cornish way of life. Cornwall is one of the poorest areas of Western Europe, but we also have our very own, unique cultural identity based on our Celtic roots, we have massive population fluctuations throughout the year, there’s only one main road and rail link in and out, and because of our natural beauty and desire for many to live in Cornwall, finding truly affordable quality housing for nurses, social care and retail workers in Cornwall is today virtually impossible. These factors mean that Cornwall is like no other part of the UK and requires a particular devolved arrangement.

Whilst I’m wholly opposed to a Mayor of Cornwall, which would be a total waste of money, I would like to see considerably more power devolved to Cornwall. And, as your Labour MP, I will push hard for devolution to play a key part in Labour’s plan at the next election.

I will fight for Cornwall to be high on that devolution agenda and achieve a new arrangement with Westminster that befits our geographic location, our economy and our culture as well as our housing, health and social care requirements.

For economic, social, cultural and security reasons, I will push for the closest possible relationship with our nearest neighbours, friends and allies. I make no apology for stating that I am a staunch pro-European. I campaigned door-to-door to remain in the EU and carried the People’s Vote banner through the streets of London.

This is hardly a surprise: I have very close ties to mainland Europe – I have a Swedish sister-in-law, a French sister-in-law, a French brother-in-law and, having lived in France in my early 20s, I speak fluent French.

Three years after leaving the EU, it’s clear that the Conservatives who led the Brexit campaign have failed to keep their promises. The fortress that Vote Leave claimed we could build, had foundations of sand. Ask any of our farmers, fishermen, importers, exporters or desperately overworked social care workers how Brexit has been for them, and you’ll get a pretty frank response. But, as a democrat, as painful as it is, I believe we have to respect the will of the people. We have left the EU, and we have to make the most of where we are today, not replay old arguments. That does not mean, however, that we have to accept the terrible arrangement the government ‘negotiated’ with our nearest neighbours.

As your Labour MP I will support a new debate on the UK’s relationship with the EU based, not on resentment, but on mutual respect, goodwill and collaboration. Where those discussions may lead would be up to us. But what will not change is my ardent belief that the EU is our friend, our neighbour and our largest, nearest economic trading block. For decades our social, cultural and even familial ties have bonded us to our European neighbours. Failed Conservative promises from 2016 cannot be allowed to damage those long-lasting ties.

Our job is to care for, protect and nurture our natural environment. The Conservatives have abused and neglected it. As an MP, I will work tirelessly to make sure that our environment is protected, particularly by ending the pumping of raw sewage into our waterways.

Quite simply, zero tolerance to animal cruelty in a modern progressive Britain. Having spent the vast majority of my life living in rural areas, I have first hand experience of the very worst of hunting with dogs. On a purely practical level, it is a hopelessly inefficient means of culling pests but more broadly this issue goes to the heart of our attitudes to animal welfare.

The way that we treat our wildlife says much about the kind of society we are, and the kind of society we will leave behind to future generations. So for me, quite explicitly, hunting animals with dogs is a disgusting, deeply cruel and inhumane ‘pastime’ and I would like to not only see the laws against it fully enforced, I would like to see those that break those laws feel the full force of justice.

Hunting with dogs has no place whatsoever in 21st century Britain. The issue cannot be tolerated or ignored. We need to cherish and protect our wildlife – not manipulate wildlife populations so some people can ‘enjoy’ seeing them being ripped apart by a pack of dogs. As your Labour MP, I would be very clear and unequivocal in my opposition to this barbaric but seemingly tolerated ‘pastime’.