THE debate this week in Westminster was mainly on the Budget.

One of the points I tried to emphasise in my speech was the importance of investment funding and the shot in the arm it has delivered to the Cornish economy, Cornish businesses and community resources. It has helped organisations like the People Hub and the Growth Hub support people getting back into work and make advice available on setting up businesses, as well as restored village halls and community spaces. The Shared Prosperity Fund was extended by this budget, with £900-million for the coming year across the country. I and the other Cornish Labour MPs are now lobbying to make sure that our unique circumstances in Cornwall are recognised and that we get a substantial sum from this fund when it is distributed.

The budget showed some of the idiosyncrasies of our Parliamentary system. To speak in the debate you have to be present from the beginning until you are called to speak and for summing up speeches at the end. In my case, on Wednesday, that was six hours. We then vote by physically walking through the division lobbies on each side of the Chamber and being manually counted by the MPs nominated as tellers as you go through the exit door. There were 10 votes on aspects of the budget, so that meant spending two hours of an evening essentially walking round in a circle while people counted us! Not the most efficient system, but one that has been used for hundreds of years.

I attended my first Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee meeting this week and met with many organisations, local and national. St Agnes based Surfers Against Sewage came to Parliament and we discussed the government’s groundbreaking review on how the water system is run, regulated and monitored. This government has already made large steps on water regulation. A Water Bill is coming through Parliament and the review will be fundamental for getting our water system on a sustainable footing for its longterm future.

We also held the second meeting of our parliamentary group on floating offshore wind. Establishing floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea has the potential for 4GW of power by 2035, enough to power four-million homes.

Our Cornish ports and harbours, such as Falmouth, are well placed to support this, with the potential for hundreds of good jobs while contributing to the country getting to zero carbon electricity.

The previous government awarded a relatively small sum of £160-million into a Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) with no national strategy in place. The current government has pledged £1.8-billion investment into ports and more investment through our newly created public energy company, GB Energy. Our parliamentary group is focused on getting that investment moving and formulating that long term strategy so that Cornwall can take its place as a leader in the energy of the future, just as we were in our past.

Jayne Kirkham

Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth