More powerful Cornwall takes step forward
West Cornwall MP Andrew George today secured the backing of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, for his campaign for a bespoke “city deal” for Cornwall. Mr George has prepared the ground to secure new regional powers for Cornwall over transport, economic regeneration, benefits, education and infrastructure.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr George asked: “Although it doesn’t look like a city, Cornwall, as my Right Hon friend knows, has both the ambition and indeed the building blocks to genuinely negotiate a deal with the government on devolved powers. So will my Right Hon friend please ensure that those ambitions can be fast-tracked to reality?”
Mr Clegg agreed to back the effort to bring more powers to the region, saying: “[Mr George] has been an absolutely tireless campaigner, with his colleagues elsewhere in Cornwall, to emulate the idea of a ‘City Deal’ but adapted for the needs of Cornwall now and in the future. I certainly want to applaud him for it and will certainly make sure that he and his colleagues can meet the Minister for Cities and Decentralisation, to make his case directly for a bespoke deal for Cornwall at some point in the future.”
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