Will Cornwall Council be forced into a shotgun marriage with Plymouth and Devon local authorities?

In recent weeks, we have heard Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth City Council, propose this monstrous union with an elected mayor and combined authority status. This is opposed by all six Cornish MPs, a joint statement of over 90 parish councils, and Cornwall Council itself. The question remains: why is this opposition being ignored?

With the announcements from our Prime Minister about devolving more powers to the regions of the UK, public hopes for a Cornish assembly seemed greater than at any other point in my lifetime. After rejecting the Conservative proposal for an elected Cornish mayor under a level-three agreement, many hoped Westminster would start to recognise the unique nature of Cornish devolution.

The current local government reorganisation favours combined authorities with a population between one and 2.5 million. It only takes a little notebook mathematics to work out why this is significant. Cornwall stands at a little under 600,000, Plymouth at 260,000 and Devon 820,000, totalling at 1.68 million people.

Once again, Cornish people are at risk of being disregarded by an administration that does not see our Celtic identity as anything but a novelty. The Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP (deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government) has given private assurances to Cornish MPs that she recognises Cornwall as needing a solution closer to the Welsh assembly than a combined authority. There is, however, a very wide gap between private assurances and formal policy.

What can we do? With elections do Cornwall Council taking place this May, we must form a cross-party consensus of like-minded councillors. This will likely be one of the most important elections in Cornwall since 2009.

Keskows vyth y’gan kever, hebon. There must be no conversation about us, without us.

Cllr Zach Griffiths, Labour, Tregolls Ward, Truro City Council