Andrew George
Promoting the
Politics of Courage
I’m running a positive campaign to restore decency and honesty to our politics. To build a brighter future. To combat those who want us to become more inward-looking, backward-looking, more self-absorbed. I’ll build a campaign for an outward-looking, forward-looking and compassionate country.
We’ve been misled by a privileged clique who’ve irresponsibly played on fears to stoke prejudice. We must get beyond the Brexit chaos they’ve dragged our country into. We must restore the things that matter for the sake of our children’s future – our NHS, our schools and the very sustainability of our planet.
Come and join a growing campaign team. We’re determined to win this seat back this time, to make the difference, to build a brighter future.
Many people say “you politicians are all the same”. That statement has never been more untrue. The choice here is stark:
Andrew George - Standing up for Cornwall
National campaigner, local campaigner, MP.
Andrew describes his role - "Seeking out the silent voices. Standing up to bullies. Fighting for justice”
Liberal Democrats - Building a brighter future
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Our housing and planning system operates as if the housing needs of local people were an inconvenient afterthought. Despite tinkering at the edges, successive governments have left a housing and planning system that rewards land-value speculation more than charitable providers of affordable homes, puts developer profit before affordability of homes, and turns a blind eye to local homes becoming absorbed into property investment portfolios as second homes and holiday lets.
So my Homes & Planning Bill will help communities which care about the housing needs of locals to fight back. It will:
✅ Extend the community right to buy, helping parish & town councils, community land trusts and other local charities secure land and buildings for social/affordable, community-led homes for locals;
✅ Create a new planning rule which would mean homes could not be converted to second/holiday use without securing planning permission.
Across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, more than 25,000 households are on housing waiting lists, while there is a similar number of second and holiday homes.
These policies are not fuelled by the politics of envy, but a desire for social justice. They are simple, practical, balanced measures to help our communities remain places where local people can live, work and raise their families.
I'll be making the case for this Bill in the House of Commons on Friday 13 November and look forward to the debate.
#AffordableHomes #HousingCrisis #Cornwall #Scilly #communityhousing
BBC Cornwall ITV News West Country Cornwall Live Cornwall Reports Packet Newspapers
Don't leave Hospice care to chance.
Hospice care is essential for many, but too many people miss out. A broken funding model of rising cost means nearly 1 in 3 who need palliative care miss out on the support they need.
Hospice funding is often be down to the role of the dice. Cornwall Hospice Care receives less than 10% of its annual running costs from the NHS. The rest is from charitable fundraising. This is well below the national average of around a third of funding from the NHS.
I recently met representatives from Hospice UK in the Commons, during Hospice Care Week.
With hospices under more pressure than ever before, six in 10 have made or are planning frontline service cuts this year. This means fewer beds available and fewer visits made, as care is scaled back.
Hospice UK said, "This uncertainty comes at a time when demand for care is only rising. Up to 90% of people who die could benefit from palliative care, without investment more people will miss out on the care they need at the end of their life.
Hospice UK’s four point plan for hospice funding:
1. Full funding of specialist palliative care provided by hospices, so that charitable funding is used only for enhanced services
2. Proper NHS contracts for hospices
3. Funding to cover the cost of NHS pay rises for hospice staff
4. National accountability for equal provision of palliative care, where you live.
As a first step towards full funding of specialist palliative care delivered by hospices, Hospice UK is asking for a commitment of £112.5 million in recurring revenue funding from 2026/7 financial year onwards.
Pictured here with great Hospice advocate, Isatta Sisay - Director of Patient Services & Chief Nurse at Royal Trinity Hospice
Cornwall Reports Hospice UK Cornwall Live BBC Cornwall ITV News West Country Packet Newspapers #PalliativeCare #hospicecare Cornwall Hospice
@top fans
Are we prepared?
Is there more we can do to get ready?
Do all service providers have contingency plans in place?
I received numerous calls and concerns following Storm Austen. Community leaders, first responders deserve reassurance we've learned lessons following Storm Goretti last January.
I've organised this event to give you the chance to hear from: the Government's emergency planners, COBRA; local emergency planners; and key service providers. There's a good line-up. And a chance to talk to services face-to-face.
With a super El Nino looming, it's important we get ready.
Are you ready? What do we all need to do, individually, as communities looking out for each other, and knowing how to get help when it's needed?
If the worst of the winter storms haven't already arrived by then(!), this event will help.
And it's relevant we're holding the event at the Penzance & Newlyn Rugby Ground (and Cornish Pirates home ground), The Mennaye; which was devastated by Storm Goretti and then Storm Ingrid. They destroyed much of the main grandstand and the stand opposite. Causing hundreds of thousands of damage, including the relocation of Pirates home games for months after.
You can book your free place here: andrew-george-events.eventcube.io/events/98495/storm-resilience-summit/
@followers
BBC Cornwall Packet Newspapers Cornwall Reports Cornwall Live ITV News West Country
The pied wagtail flocking-to-roost 'ceremony' greeted us as we left the brilliant 'Imagining the Future' conference in Truro today. Put sound on! Later they perform a kind of murmuration around these camilla trees...
So appropriate too.
What can we all do to combat the climate emergency and nature crisis? Great speakers, community organisations and charities came together to share notes and advice.
Thank you Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Climate Commission; Community Energy Cornwall & Scilly; Wildlife Groundswell; Cornwall Climate Action Network Cornwall Wildlife Trust Transition Penwith and many others.
BBC Cornwall Cornwall Live Packet Newspapers
Unbelievable! The Chancellor has extended multi-million tax handouts to second/holiday homeowners in his Budget, and this during a housing emergency.
This tax loophole has been extensively exploited by many wealthy property investors since 2012.
The Chancellor announced in his budget yesterday that eligibility for those second homeowners who ‘flip’ their properties from Council Tax to Business Rates, apply for the Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and pay nothing has been extended to almost all stand alone holiday homes.
Instead of closing a multibillion-pound tax loophole, the Chancellor has just crowbarred it open still further!
I can’t remember how many times I’ve spelt this out to government ministers. They’ve completely failed to comprehend it. It’s shocking that billions of pounds are being handed out to wealthy property investors when there are hundreds of thousands of families who can’t afford to secure a decent first home, even at an affordable rent.
I will challenge ministers again before the Budget is voted on. They must think again.
Entitling holiday lets to small business rate relief (SBRR) was shocking enough, but not unusual for the Conservatives who introduced it. In Cornwall alone, more than half a £billion of taxpayers money has been handed out to holiday homeowners (most of whom live outside Cornwall) in the last decade. This kind of money could’ve gone some way to help solve our housing problems.
Since the government introduced the double council tax on second homes last year, that has encouraged even more to flip their property from council tax to business rates, apply for small business rate relief and then pay nothing! Now some are even asking for it to be backdated, which they must know is putting the local authority into an even worse financial crisis, resulting in cuts to essential public services.
This must stop. I cannot believe that the Chancellor has done this.
UPDATE 31.10.26:
Since posting this there’ve been numerous attacks against me from holiday homeowners, and defenders of this (generous) tax break for holiday homes.
It’s evident there’s much confusion and misinformation. I don’t have time to respond individually to all, so address points here:
1. This isn’t the politics of envy. Just commitment to social justice. I don’t object to those who have the wealth to afford it owning as many homes as they wish. I just think it’s unwise for government to spend substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money subsidising it, rather than, say, helping those who haven’t yet secured a genuinely affordable first home.
2. Many have tried to play this down, but organisations which advise second/holiday property owners are less coy about the news. Eg “The Budget announced changes to Small Business Rates Relief, which is welcome news for eligible holiday let owners in England” (holidaycottages.co.uk).
3. Of course, second homes (which pay Council Tax) and Holiday lets (Business rates) are different. But, contrary to the protestations of those who own such properties, it’s still possible use your second home for family use as well as for investment purposes. Confirmed by the experts who advise second/holiday homeowners – “a major attraction is the chance to earn an income from a property you can enjoy yourself” (holidaycottages.co.uk).
4. My ardent detractors also assert it’s not possible for a second home owner to take advantage of the SBRR tax loophole. Again, the sector experts offer advice on this which confirms what I’ve said: “If your second home currently sits empty between your own visits, holiday letting could offer a middle ground… Welcoming guests during suitable available periods can generate income towards running costs while allowing you to retain a valued place for personal enjoyment. It’s flexible too. You decide when you want to use your property and when to welcome guests... In England [& Cornwall!], local authorities can charge a council tax premium of up to 100% on second homes. If you begin letting your second home commercially and it meets the relevant criteria, it may be assessed for business rates instead of council tax. This could be beneficial, particularly where a property qualifies for Small Business Rates Relief.” (holidaycottages.co.uk).
5. Some have implied this is “not a cash handout, but a tax relief”. As if to imply it’s costless to the taxpayer. However, this naively ignores that business rates which are not paid to the local authority are recompensed with money from the Treasury. And we can see the records. Over £500m paid to Cornwall Council to cover the payments to or income foregone from holiday lets in the last decade. The Council is also itself liable to meet many of the costs of claimed retrospectivity, causing severe problems for the Council, and which will result in cuts to essential local services.
6. Many have challenged my assertion that the majority of those who receive full SBRR and pay nothing have their primary address outside Cornwall. There’s lots of evidence. Please check the figures from Cornwall Council. Latest figures show over 60% of those who benefit from this tax loophole have primary addresses outside Cornwall.
7. Others assert that I don’t appreciate “the cleaners, electricians, plumbers, gardeners, waste collection people, etc” who are employed in support of the sector, nor “the enormous contribution” this brings to the local economy. At no point have I sought to diminish the importance to the economy etc. But, 1. This still doesn’t justify why second/holiday home owners (most of whom live outside Cornwall) should receive a tax subsidy while hotels and larger guest houses cannot get this. 2. The same case for hotels, purpose-built holiday chalet and caravan parks, and guest houses can be made, but they don’t remove a home from local permanent occupancy, nor expect local taxpayers to subsidise them. 3. pushing taxpayers' money into supporting low-paid, seasonal work rather than backing sectors which offer higher paid all-year-round work is a far better strategy.
8. Many still assert that the existence of holiday lets in properties which were previously used for permanent occupancy is the “fault” of those local people who sold them in the first place. Some have said those who sold them should have sold them with a “covenant” restricting sales to stop second homeowners, and accept the lower price this would command in the market. This is a persistent myth, which 1. presupposes the last occupants of a home prior to it becoming a second/holiday home owned the home rather than were tenants and who were evicted to make way; and 2. It fails to appreciate how markets work. The myth suggests an owner-occupier who sells a home with a property value x, should be content to sell the home at a price significantly less, and which will prevent them from moving to another property of the same value x, possibly pushing them out of the housing market altogether.
9. Others asked me for evidence that people were ‘flipping’ their second homes from double council tax to take advantage of the SBRR tax loophole and pay nothing, yet (in the commentary below) others provided precisely this evidence by confirming this is exactly what they have done, while berating what they saw as an unjustifiable tax increase on second homes.
10. Some holiday homeowners argued they were running their businesses at a loss, that “my cleaner made more than me (as owner)” etc. For many owners (as industry experts recognise) the income from holiday letting is an additional benefit to the advantage of enjoying the home for their own use as well as benefitting from the capital gain of the property itself, and defraying the costs of maintenance of the home against tax. Strangely, none seem to have referenced any of this.
11. Others implied they could make more by letting to private tenants. If this was so, it seems odd that so many tenants have been evicted in recent years to make way for yet more holiday lets. As industry experts admit “…a realistic holiday letting forecast may reveal earning potential worth comparing with residential rental income” (holidaycottages.co.uk).
BBC Cornwall Packet Newspapers Cornwall Live ITV News West Country Shelter The Big Issue First NOT Second Homes #HousingForAll #homelessness #housingcrisis Cornwall Reports