Chris Ridgers - rude and arrogant or just a little bit out of touch

A couple of weeks ago the second Cornish National Minority Report was published. This well researched and excellently written report clearly demonstrates the strength of the claim, by Cornish people, to be given recognition and to become eligible for the rights and benefits that accrue to their true status.

In fact, the report was commissioned by Cornwall Council under the the leadership of Alec Robertson's Conservative Party. On publication the report (signed by the leaders of all parties and groups in Truro) has been sent to Westminster to confirm officially that the Unitary Authority demands recognition for Cornish people.

Straight forward enough? You would think that, perhaps, Cornish politicians of all hues are behind the claim of the Cornish to be recognised.

It would appear not!

An e-petition has been started regarding the recognition of the Cornish as a national minority. If the petition collects 100,000 signatures accross the UK then it will force a debate by MPs on the subject. You might think that Cornish politicians - who have rushed to bask in the media spotlight focussed on the report - might be supportive of such a petition. After all it can only help the cause if it is debated by MPs.

In order to let as many people know that the petition exists, a group of Cornish bloggers and Tweeters have been brodcasting the details. Surely the same Cornish politicians that were previously basking in the glow of the second report would be supportive of a petition with the same aims - but it would appear not.

For example Chris Ridgers, a Conservative member of the Unitary Cabinet believes that the petition is no more than internet spam and his dismissal of attempts to publicise the petition is rather rude and somewhat arrogant - but then he is a Tory I suppose.



The thing is, is this Cabinet member out of touch with his leader - who has proudly signed the second report before putting it in the post to Westminster? Perhaps Cllr Ridger doesn't know what his leader (and the council as a whole) is up to - or maybe he just doesn't agree. It wouldn't be the first time Mr Ridger has appeared to not know what is going on in his own back yard. At a recent full council meeting it emerged that, somewhat embarrassingly, he was less than fully up to speed with meetings that council officials were having to discuss the possibility of a tourist tax.

The really worrying thing though, is that maybe Cllr Ridger really is fully up to speed on this issue. Perhaps Tory support for recognition of the Cornish people is just a sham. A sham designed to get votes because they know that their friends in Westminster will never give the report the credence that it deserves. Just like the six Cornish MPs 'at the heart of government' are ignored when they demand that a Devonwall seat not be an option, so the Tories at Lys Kernow know that they can pretend to care about Cornwall and the Cornish, and chase votes on the back of this. At the same time they are safe in the knowledge that their real values will never be compromised by Mr Cameron in London.

Two e-petitions you might like!

There are two e-petions that you might be interested in. Follow the links to sign up!

Recognition of Cornwall as a national minority

Establishment of a Cornish assembly.

I have signed both - it takes about a minute for each!

New EC Set priorities for the coming year

The new MK Camborne District executive held its first meeting tonight. We discussed ways to take the branch forward and set priorities for the coming year.

New Branch Executive Committee

The Camborne District branch of MK met last night for their AGM.

We adopted a new constitution and elected an executive committee. The new structure will allow us to move the party forward in our constituency and it will allow us to make planning election campaigns, fundraising, recruitment and general administration much more productive and 'joined up'.

Stadium for Cornwall

There seems to be much angst amongst Cornish politicos as to whether or not we should have a brand new, shiny stadium right here in little Kernow.

On the one hand we have those who are trying to build a CV or reputation on the back of a stadium. These people are quick off the mark to extoll the economic and social benefits of a stadium. They go through the usual rigmarole of wholly hypothetical projections and estimates to tell us that this many jobs will be created or that many £millions will be generated from building this complex of stadium and 'sports village'.

On the other hand we have others who complain about how much it is all going to cost and worry about just exactly who is actually going to get any benefit from the stadium. Why should we pay for something that only a few will benefit from?

Personally, I think that this project is something that could be good for Cornwall. Why shouldn't the people of Cornwall be able to enjoy big events and the opportunities that this could deliver. Why shouldn't Cornwall be able to compete on the prestigious world stage in the modern world? I also think that if there truly is a benefit to be gleaned for Cornwall then the stadium should be owned and managed by Cornwall and not sold off to others to take the profit while the people pay the bills. If the benefits are there then the investment would be worthwhile. However, raising the money to pay for it shouldn't rely on greedy developers being granted licence to run riot with unaffordable and unnecessary housing developments as the price for getting it built.

The thing is there are probably just as many people who would prefer to keep green fields and a quieter life as there are that would welcome a stadium.

So here's an idea. Why not use the much vaunted Localism agenda bought to us by the ConDem government. Surely if there was ever a case for a 'local referendum' then this is it? Not only could we have a referendum we could also vote on whether we should pay for it through voting to allow Cornwall Council to go over a government imposed cap on council tax.

Come on Cornwall Council let the people decide. Do we want a stadium and do we want to pay for it?

Did Cllr Easthorne-Gibbons Manage to Keep a Straight Face?

I wonder if Cllr Easthorne-Gibbons managed to keep a straight face (or perhaps she had her fingers crossed firmly behind her back) when she stated for the newspapers:

"I am sorry people misunderstood.

"I am sorry Mebyon Kernow were upset because I give you my word that was not my intention.

"I don't want to give offence to anybody – I wanted to keep everything above board.

"I did everything by the book."

It beggars belief that she can claim that there was no intention to deliberately mislead voters. The evidence is here for all to see in black and white, just as it was before people went to the polls on 21st July.

How could anyone reasonably be expected to work out that the the statement under Lance Dyer's name didn't actually refer to him? To any reasonable and intelligent person, the whole point of that part of the leaflet was to compare the candidates standing to be elected. How could Cllr Easthorne-Gibbins not have intended to mislead?

Of course Lance Dyer should be flattered really. He obviously had the Tories rattled in order for them to behave in such a reprobate manner.

After the general election last year there was a scandal when Labour's Phil Woolas' statements about his Lib Dem rival were ruled to be an illegal practice under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

The judges in this case said:

"The statement was false and the respondent had no reasonable ground for believing it to be true and did not believe it to be true.

"It follows in our judgment that the respondent is guilty of an illegal practice, contrary to section 136 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 with regard to those statements."

My question is what is the difference between these two cases?

Should Illogan Parish Be Happy to Follow Where Camborne , Redruth and Pool Lead?

The Localism Bill seeks to provide a platform for claiming that power over development will be given to local people. This is a sham. The only power that locals will have will be to force elected representatives to authorise development where otherwise they might not have done so.

Advocates of the Localism Bill point to the idea of residents in a neighbourhood creating their own plan. This is then supposedly used to guide development in the neighbourhood. However, there is a problem if the neighbourhood plan does not conform to the vision that we are being sold by Westminster. The vision that there should be an automatic presumption in favour of 'sustainable growth' (whatever that means) and that this is a right and proper thing for us to accept. If the neighbourhood plan calls for a policy based on a 'steady state' approach to development where housing is built strictly for local need, for industrial development to provide real employment opportunity to aid the local economy and for the environmental considerations of issues such, as 'infill', to be given a higher priority, the plan will be ignored anyway.

Nevertheless, I believe that neighbourhoods should produce plans. If enough plans are ignored in favour of lining developers' pockets then maybe it will give the lie to the whole spurious claim that Westminster wants to give real power to local communities.

With all of this in mind I approached the Chairman of Illogan Parish Council, Cllr David Ekinsmyth with a view to commencing the process of creating a local neighbourhood plan. Unfortunately for Illogan, Cllr Ekinsmyth believes that it is best to wait until the County (sic) has produced its plan for the Camborne, Pool, Illogan and Redruth area and to see if it conflicts with the small section on planning contained within Illogan's Parish Plan.

The 'County' has already expressed that planning strategies will be based on unsustainably high population growth (even at the lowest option). It is hard, therefore, to see how their plans and policies can possibly do anything but conflict with what I believe the people of Illogan and, indeed, most of Cornwall want - a breathing space in growth to rebuld communities and allow the people of Cornwall to sort out the mess that Westminster has made.