Natalie Bennett said:

“It’s wonderful to be back in Cornwall, and especially at this beautiful community orchard, where fruit trees beginning to come into blossom – a perfect symbol of real hope and real change.

“And it’s been great to hear about the amazing work Green councillors are doing all around Cornwall. Wherever Greens are elected, they’re real champions for their communities.

“Here in Newquay, Green Mayor Drew Creek and his team of Green town councillors have ended the use of toxic glyphosate on local streets, and secured funding to expand Newquay’s world-class skate park and create the first children’s play park in the town centre. They’re also doing great work to match young people with employers who can offer real career opportunities.

“And, by cutting back on wasteful spending, they’ve done all this without increasing the council tax budget for this coming year. Drew will make a superb Cornwall councillor.

“In Wadebridge, former Green Mayor and Cornwall Council candidate Amanda Pennington led a successful campaign to save vital leisure and sports services by taking them into community ownership.

“In Truro, Cornwall Council candidate Karen La Borde and the large group of Green city councillors have been working hard to make sure that new housing developments don’t damage the natural environment and that developers actually deliver on their affordable housing commitments. The trust that local people put in them was underlined this week when it was announced that five Greens will be unopposed at the upcoming elections, including Devon Claxton, who at 18 will be probably the youngest councillor in Cornwall.

“It was Green town councillor Dean Evans, now standing for Cornwall Council in Penryn, who led the campaign for 20mph speed limits to make residential roads in Cornwall safer for children, pedestrians and cyclists – something that’s been hugely popular with local residents.

“And in Falmouth, Green candidate Jackie Walkden has been supporting local people in their successful campaign to stop Cornwall Council destroying much-loved mature trees, as happened so disgracefully in Sheffield and Plymouth.”

“Despite its great natural beauty, Cornwall has some of the starkest inequality in the UK – not least in terms of housing, with many local families simply unable to find anywhere affordable to either buy or rent. It’s also suffered more than its share of sewage pollution at the hands of the privatised water industry.

“I know that elected Green councillors will always fight for a better deal for local people, and to protect the natural environment that makes Cornwall so special. And I look forward to seeing more Green community champions elected to Cornwall Council on 1 May!”

Find out more about these and other Green Party candidates on 1 May here.

The post Cornwall Green Party launches local election campaign appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

No. Farage is a former private schoolboy and a former city of London commodities trader; his parents paid for him to go Dulwich College; a school that today charges £9000 per term. 

He worked in the city of London, where the traders and brokers who caused the 2008 financial crisis were forged. Money is his background and his career. Which is why he got into politics! Here he is bragging about how much money he earned while he was an MEP – and he boasted about claiming £2 million of taxpayers’ money in expenses too. 

As an MP, he earns £91,346, (plus expenses!) – but that’s not enough for “working class hero” Nigel – in fact, he earns over £1 million a year in addition to his MPs salary. 

Not only that, he has twice been the keynote speaker at an event for ultra-wealthy people – to help them avoid tax! 

But he’s still a man who stands by working people, right?

No! In fact, he recently voted against better worker’s rights!

He voted against the employment rights bill which will stop companies sacking workers who do not accept lower wages and worse conditions, and prevent firms getting rid of employees with no reason.

Worse still, he and the Reform party have received more than £2.3 million in donations from big oil and gas interests, highly polluting industries, and climate science deniers since 2019! 

And all this, while 75% of people in Cornwall support solar and onshore wind infrastructure for their power. 

Farage does NOT have your interests, or the UK’s at heart – why else would he be so happy that the pound crashed after Brexit – look at the photo in this article – he’s celebrating it! Is that “patriotic”, as he claims to be? As a former city trader, did he bet on it? Did he profit from it?!  

Don’t let the pint glass fool you! 

Nigel Farage is a charlatan, profiting from big oil and tax avoidance, and hoping that working people will be gullible enough to vote for him. 

What about Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s policies?

Do you value our NHS? Nigel doesn’t! He says he’s “open to anything” when it comes to replacing Britain’s NHS with “an insurance-based model”. That’s the kind of model that has put healthcare beyond the reach of millions of people in the US. 

Does that sound like something you want? If not, don’t vote Reform, or you could end up paying £10,000 per person on average like they do in the US! 

Nigel and his chums also want to tax renewable energies & solar farms, and ban energy storage batteries, He doesn’t believe that CO2 is harming our climate – or is he just being paid to say that?! 

Throughout his time as a Member of the European Parliament, he claimed to stand by UK fishermen, and he used Cornish fishermen as poster-boys for Brexit – but he turned up to just ONE of 42 EU fisheries committee meetings!  

And it looks like history is repeating itself – Reform still claims to be the party of fishermen but no Reform MPs bothered to turn up to the parliamentary debate on fishing.  

Before the last election, a former Bank of England official warned that Reform’s tax and spending plans would crash the pound and create “another Liz Truss event” – hasn’t your mortgage suffered enough?!

And don’t forget that Nigel called that “the best Conservative budget since 1986!”

He, like Truss, is bankrolled by big businesses, seeking to pay even less tax than they already do. You have to pay tax – why shouldn’t they? Perhaps we could ask Nigel, if we were prepared to pay thousands of pounds for a ticket to his “tax offshoring” event! 

And what sort of “English patriot” says that Vladimir Putin is the leader he admires the most? Does Farage support international law, or is that just for the “little people” who pay taxes?  

How about Elon Musk? Do you like him, or are you like most people in Britain thinking he’s toxic? Because Nigel absolutely loves him and has called him a “hero”, even while the billionaire ramps up hatred and disinformation on X. Maybe Farage is just hoping that flattery will get him some of Musk’s money.  

Is he a man of the people? If so, why does he love billionaires so much? Why does he want to make you pay for our NHS?! 

If you’re going to see him in Carn Brea, ask him who’s funding him, because all the evidence suggests that he’s nothing but a mouthpiece for corporate interests and the wealthy!

You might also ask him why he has so many close connections to proven fraudsters.

The evidence is clear – these are all things that he’s said and done himself! 

If you live in Cornwall, remember that the last time Nigel Farage told you to do something… 

• Cornwall got less than half the amount of money it would have got from the EU before Brexit 
• Fishermen in Devon and Cornwall feel they have been let down and say they have lost trust in politicians…  
• …and Farage and co. didn’t even turn up to the parliamentary fishing debate! 
• People of Cornwall say they still haven’t seen any benefits since the UK left the EU, and more negative effects than positive  
• Cornish food businesses have claimed lack of government support and labour shortages have left them “stunted” post-Brexit 

Brexit – and its champion, Nigel Farage – has been BAD for Cornwall and bad for the UK! 

Nigel Farage is a con man – lining his own pockets, pretending to be a man of the people while sucking up to billionaires and dictators, working for the wealthy, and taking corporate cash. 

Don’t let the pint glass fool you! 

The post Farage is in Cornwall after your money and your vote. Cornwall Greens call out the con. appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

They are calling out the Cabinet’s misplaced priorities, which they say have seen millions wasted on failed projects such as the Spaceport, mismanaged car parks, and unnecessary estate agency fees for the airport.

“At a time when families are already struggling, these cuts are a devastating blow to essential services that keep children safe,” said Drew Creek, Mayor and Newquay Green Party spokesperson. “While the council pleads poverty, it has squandered public money on vanity projects and mismanagement. Now, they’re asking residents for more money through council tax hikes while delivering less. It’s unacceptable.”

“These cuts to child protection will have real consequences for children in Newquay,” said Steve Slade, Newquay Town Councillor. “The Greens are showing there’s a better way – one that prioritises people over waste and delivers real value for our communities.

“Here in Newquay, we’re proving that it’s possible to deliver more for communities without increasing council tax. Through careful financial management and a focus on people-first policies, we’ve been investing in frontline services, with more public toilets than ever before, in the town’s youth with the youth centre and new play park coming this year, and in protecting our environment through our work on installing solar, electric vehicles, tree planting and biodiversity protection. We only wish Cornwall Council would learn from this.”

Newquay Greens are urging residents to demand better from Cornwall Council’s current Conservative Cabinet and to support a fairer, greener approach to local governance at the elections in May.

The post Newquay Greens slam Cornwall Council’s cuts to frontline services appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

Cornwall’s Green Party candidates aim to make sure that Green voices are heard loud and clear in this election, speaking up for social justice, a better deal for local communities and meaningful action on the accelerating climate emergency.

Read more about the candidates here

The post Cornwall Green Party announces candidates for the General Election appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

Cornwall Green Party has reacted strongly to the latest incident of serious sewage pollution, at St Agnes.

Karen La Borde, a Truro City Councillor and the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Truro and Falmouth, said: “Yesterday’s disgusting outpour of effluent at St Agnes is the latest of many serious pollution incidents in the past few months all around Cornwall’s coastline.

“Cherilyn Mackrory MP has echoed South West Water’s claim that this was mostly storm water, but local surfers report that there was plenty of all too recognisable human excrement in the mix. This is a real danger to human health, as well as harming the marine environment and Cornwall’s reputation as a holiday destination.

“Pennon Group, which owns South West Water, made a profit of nearly £2 billion in 2020-21. It and the other privatised water companies have returned tens of billions of pounds to their shareholders over the past few years and their executives are earning extremely large salaries.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable for anyone to be profiting from these companies while they continue to pollute our rivers and coastal waters on such a massive scale.

“The Green Party would like to see these companies taken back into public ownership and the money that’s currently paid out to shareholders used to modernise infrastructure and put an end to this pollution – and to the huge waste of water through leaks in ageing pipes.”

In response to the claim that much of the deep brown outflow at St Agnes was soil run-off, Ms La Borde said: “It’s no doubt true that this effluent included a lot of topsoil as well as sewage. But soil erosion is also an extremely serious problem, and what does that say about our approach to sustainable drainage systems? St Agnes has seen a lot of development recently, and planning regulations need to be much stricter to make sure that any new development does not lead to increased run-off.”

Ms La Borde also drew attention to the voting records of Cornwall’s MPs on sewage disposal: “At the next election, I hope people will remember that five of Cornwall’s Conservative MPs – Cherilyn Mackrory, Steve Double, George Eustice, Scott Mann and Sheryll Murray – all voted against taking strong action to compel water companies to stop pumping raw sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches.

“It’s not just the water companies – it’s high time to hold these MPs accountable for the damage they are continuing to do to our natural environment.”

The post Cornwall Green Party condemns latest sewage pollution on Cornish beaches appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

Matt Valler, Cornwall Green Party’s joint Coordinator, said:

“Once again an undemocratic electoral system has ignored the majority of Cornish voters. We now have to suffer a Tory council despite the fact they received barely more than a third of the vote. We need a proportionate system that makes votes matter. It’s no wonder that turnout is so low when most votes are ignored.

“At the core of Green Party principles is a commitment to deliver better democracy. We believe that’s the only way to respond to the climate and ecological emergency. We can only make a fair transition to a net-zero-Carbon future if everyone has a real stake, and local people can make local decisions about the things that affect their lives.

“The political chaos of the last few years is the result of a fundamentally undemocratic system. At every election, most people’s votes are not represented by the winner.

“In this election the Green Party in Cornwall received 15,911 votes of which 15,389 (97%) were essentially ignored. These are not just votes to represent the people of Cornwall, but to represent the natural world of which we are a part and on which we all rely. We cannot continue with a broken system that does so much damage to our society and our planet. We need electoral reform, now!

“Of course the Conservatives don’t want to give people a voice if it means losing their grip on power. But the fault lies equally with the Labour Party. Despite their supposedly democratic principles they are the only left-of-centre party in Europe not to support electoral reform. It’s Labour’s quest for total control that keeps handing power to the Tories.

“Greens will continue to put better democracy at the heart of all we do, to achieve real local decision-making power for local communities. A proportionate electoral system is essential to achieve this, as is much greater devolution of power from Westminster to Cornwall.”

The post Cornwall Green Party calls for urgent reform after undemocratic electoral system fails to represent the people of Cornwall appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

“We are not running in this election with the aim of supporting the Tories or any other party. My point was that we were prepared to work constructively with other parties to get movement in areas where we can agree on action that is urgently needed.

“This would be on a case-by-case basis, and Greens reserve judgment on which policies of any future Council administration we would be prepared to support. But in all cases this would be based on three primary issues: commitment to serious action on the climate and ecological emergency, commitment to ensuring greater democratic accountability for Cornwall Council, and commitment to the wellbeing of people in Cornwall.

“We will listen to all parties. However, we’ve had eight years of LibDem/Independent administration which has taken power away from democratically elected councillors and given it to unelected council officers.

“At the same time, the Conservative party record on both climate action and democratic reform is extremely poor, and needless to say we also strongly disagree with Tory policy on social issues.

“We are realistic in recognising that, although we have an excellent chance of getting Green councillors elected, the Green Party is not going to form the next Council administration. But having Greens on the Council will, we believe, help to hold councillors of other parties to account and pressure them to act more responsibly across a range of policy areas. That said, we would need to see a major change in approach by both Lib Dems and Tories in order to work constructively with councillors of either of these parties.

“We invite people to look at our local manifesto to see the clear and radical policies on which we are running.”

1. 70 candidates are standing for the Green Party in Cornwall on 6 May, many of whom are already parish and town councillors. Details of these candidates can be seen on the interactive map here:
   https://cornwall.greenparty.org.uk/candidates-2021/
2. Cornwall Green Party’s full manifesto is online here: https://cornwall.greenparty.org.uk/manifesto-2021

The post Cornwall Green Party: We are not running to support the Conservatives or any other party appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

• Democratically accountable planning and an end to destructive ‘development’
• A joined-up approach to health and wellbeing
• Public transport that’s regular, affordable and reliable.
• Housing policies that address local needs
• A Green recovery that supports local businesses and jobs
• Protecting climate, nature and biodiversity

In all, 71 candidates will be standing as Greens on 6 May, many of whom are already
parish and town councillors. The party’s co-coordinator, Matt Valler, who is also the
candidate for Falmouth Trescobeas and Budock, said:

“This election is a game-changer for the Green Party in Cornwall. We’re fielding more
candidates than at all the three previous Cornwall Council elections put together, and
the fact that so many people have stepped forward to stand reflects a real appetite for
positive change and a determination to create it.

“Greens offer a different kind of politics – we’re not about business as usual. We stand
up for what we believe in, and we work hard with local people to get things done for our
communities.

“At the last set of local elections elsewhere in the country, Greens more than doubled
our number of council seats. And On 6 May people in Cornwall will have a chance to
make sure that Green voices are in the rooms where decisions are made that affect
their everyday lives.”

Karen La Borde, who is standing for the Green Party in Threemilestone and Chacewater,
worked hard to persuade Cornwall Council and numerous town and parish councils to
declare a climate emergency in 2019. Since then, as a parish councillor, she’s helped put
flesh on the bones of Cornwall Council’s climate emergency plan, as well as working to
make sure that developers are not allowed to ride roughshod over local needs and the
natural environment.

Karen said: “For me, a properly functioning local democracy is at the heart of healthy
local communities in Cornwall. Too often, key decisions are made behind closed doors
without the needs and wishes of local people being heard.

“I know that people in my community strongly value our beautiful natural environment
and are horrified by developments that mainly benefit the big developers rather than
delivering real benefits to local people, such as genuinely affordable housing and
amenities they can get to without having to drive.”

Steve Slade, standing for the Greens in Newquay Central and Pentire, has been involved
with residents’ campaigns to address issues facing Newquay for 15 years, and in 2013 he
became the town’s first Green councillor. Since then, he’s worked hard to improve local
amenities and open spaces, and to protect the natural environment in and around the
town. Steve said:

“For me, the environment isn’t just about nature – it’s about people’s quality of life, and
making sure that local people have the resources they need to enjoy life to the full. That
means reliable and affordable public transport, for instance, and investing in Cornwall’s
economy in ways that help provide good, sustainable jobs and move us towards zero
carbon as quickly as possible.”

Local teacher Tamsyn Widdon is standing in Penryn, where she has been an energetic
town councillor for the last three years. As well as helping to set up a ‘library of things’
to give Penryn residents low-cost access to shared power tools and other equipment,
she’s persuaded the council to switch to green energy sources and save money in the
process. Tamsyn said:

“Penryn is a fantastic place to live, but like so many communities in Cornwall it faces a
range of problems – not least, many families facing real hardship that’s been made even
worse by the pandemic. Now that the end of that crisis is in sight, I think there’s a real
desire to build back better – and that has to start in our local communities.

“I decided to run for Cornwall Council because I’ve seen how decisions made there can
make a real difference to people’s lives. I want to make sure that the people of Penryn
have a representative who genuinely listens, who they can trust to stand up for their
interests, and who has the imagination to see how things that matter to them can be
changed for the better.”

Katharine Lewis, the Green Party’s candidate for Helston North was instrumental in
getting her town council to declare a climate emergency and to declare Helston an Earth
Protector Town – the first town in Cornwall to do this. She is one of the co-authors of
the Helston Climate Action Plan which has been used as a model for communities across
Cornwall, and has worked hard to help get key projects off the ground that are already
bringing real benefits to her local community, including a repair café and community
growing project.

“I’m standing because it’s important that those of us that can, step up now. There are
many changes ahead but I believe that we can work together to make Helston a place
where people and nature can thrive

“There’s been much good work has been done here in Cornwall to address the climate
and ecological emergency, but there’s so much more still to do. The impacts of this crisis
are already affecting us here in Cornwall. We need to go further and faster, and do
much more to reach out and engage with our communities, to take them with us and
make sure no one is left behind.”

Collin Harker is standing for the Greens in Fowey, Tywardreath and Par. Collin said:

“I believe we can build affordable housing for local families. We can create well-paid
jobs and apprenticeships for young people, and have thriving high streets full of local
businesses that are invested in our communities. We can avoid people having to make
that awful choice between feeding their families and heating their homes. But to
achieve these things we need a real change of direction.”

To see all the Greens standing in Cornwall on 6 May, Cornwall Green Party has created
an interactive map with details of its candidates.

You can also read our manifesto for the local elections.

The post Cornwall Green Party launches local election campaign with biggest ever slate of candidates appeared first on Cornwall Green Party.

“This new road is not a ‘dualling’, which is how it was originally sold to people in Cornwall. It will destroy a wide swathe of countryside, divide rural communities, and is completely incompatible with Cornwall Council’s declaration of Climate Emergency.” – Karen La Borde, Cornwall Green Party

Cornwall Green Party is calling for an urgent reassessment of the planned new expressway between Carland Cross and Chiverton.

The road project, which was originally conceived as a “dualling” of the existing A30, has over time morphed into a major new road scheme in addition to the existing stretch of A30. Construction work is scheduled to begin this month.

Cornwall Green Party says the project is in breach of the terms of the government’s own Road Investment Strategy (RIS), which states that roads should “not divide communities, and that the associated health and wellbeing benefits of walking and cycling are felt as widely as possible”.

Karen La Borde of Cornwall Green Party said: “We have repeatedly been told by Boris Johnson’s government that this pandemic should prompt us to think about how we can ‘build back better’. We agree, and here in Cornwall this should be the cue to reassess schemes that are damaging to the natural environment and to carbon reduction targets, as well as to local communities. This new expressway is a glaring example.

“Highways England itself estimates that construction of this road will involve a massive 79,920 tonnes in carbon emissions. It claims that this will be offset by a saving in emissions from reduced congestion, but this flies in the face of experience, which is that new roads almost invariably lead over time to increased traffic volumes.

“The expressway is clearly not compatible with Cornwall Council’s goal to achieve net zero carbon by 2030. And that aspiration will never be met if we keep making the wrong planning decisions that fail to take account of the urgent need to drastically cut rather than increase emissions.

“We understand that the planning of the new road has been taken largely out of the hands of Cornwall Council by Highways England. But that in itself is a sign of central government dictating the terms of so-called ‘development’ in a way that rides roughshod over the needs of local residents as well as the paramount importance of protecting the natural environment in the context of the accelerating climate emergency.

“We urge Cornwall Council to take this matter up with Highways England, pointing out that this scheme needs to be reassessed in the light of the Council’s commitment to reduce emissions and protect Cornwall’s natural environment.”

Residents in the area through which the proposed new road will run have described their horror at the way the road-building scheme has grown far beyond the way it was originally described to them.

Pete Mewton of Nancarrow Farm – which lies in the way of the new expressway – said: ”We know that the A30 needed to be improved along this stretch, but this expressway is an entirely new road, and nothing like the dualling that was envisaged. It would take a huge amount of farmland ,as well as wild and wooded areas – an estimated 70 hectares in total.

“The route is extremely insensitive to the human environment – it divides the whole area, cutting communication roads and encroaching close to homes and businesses. People living along its route have just one place they can get on or across it. Most of us would have to go to one or other end of it to go east or west and would never have need of it.“

Lucy Trinder of local environmental protection group ‘These Fields Have Names’, said: “This new road will obliterate 75 to 90 acres of old fields and farmland with tarmac, and its embankments and verges will take many more than that, causing irreparable damage to our natural environment. Homes, fields, hedges, trees, wooded areas, wildlife all destroyed – and for what? A reduction in long-distance journey times of about eight minutes. That’s how much the drive time from Highways England HQ in Guildford to Camborne will be reduced – from 4 hours 36 minutes to 4 hours 28 minutes.”

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