There’s an important parliamentary by-election today
There’s an important parliamentary by-election today. In the rural Welsh seat of Brecon. If the Liberal Democrat’s win this seat from the Conservatives the Government’s wafer-thin majority will be reduced still further. It’s difficult to see how the Government can survive for much longer.
I spent a short time there this week. I discovered rural Brecon to be as sharply and as acrimoniously divided as we are here in west Cornwall. However I also saw Parties working together. Plaid Cymru and the Greens Working to support the Liberal Democrat candidate. I’ll be encouraging our Party to reciprocate in future elections.
Whether you’re a passionate Leave supporter or an ardent Remainer it’s clear there’s no painless way out of the chaos and humiliation the Conservatives have visited upon our country.
The new Johnson Government plans to spend a massive £4 billion on “No Deal” preparations and on Government adverts to prepare the country for the shock of a no deal.
But it would be far better to spend that on our NHS and schools instead.
Mr Johnson doesn’t anticipate being in Government for long. He’s selected a campaign committee rather than a Cabinet of Ministers. And appointed a successful campaigner – albeit with a dodgy reputation and a similar casual respect for honesty – as his chief of staff.
Unfortunately we now have a Government led by a man who seems determined to lead the country to a self-harming no deal Brexit on or around Hallowe’en. To distract attention he’s promised additional largess to almost everyone (NHS, schools, police etc) from his magic money-lending tree and has adopted a synthetic Churchillian-style optimism. While the Government is unprepared for a no deal his Ministers now talk in surreal terms about “turbo-charging” preparations.
Even if he’s spending money he hasn’t got, Cornwall deserves to and should get ahead of the queue. After all Cornwall Council has seen an 84% cut in its central government support grant since 2015 and we remain the poorest region in the UK.
The Government has also confirmed to Health Service managers that Cornwall’s NHS will receive £100+ million less than it admits Cornwall deserves over the next few years. Our schools are facing their worst financial crises in living memory and health services have massive vacancies in registered nurses, doctors and other health professionals.
If we weren’t so distracted by Brexit we’d see a proper focus on dealing with the real pressing problems facing the country.