Contribution
My hon. Friend again makes very valid points, some of which I will be coming to a little later. The Labour Government are investing in Cornwall, which is why it is so important to get the basics right. For me, so many of our challenges come back to housing.
The stories in the “Pretty Poverty Report”—hundreds of families competing for a handful of rentals, communities hollowed out by affordability pressures and key workers unable to live near their place of work—mirror exactly what I hear at my surgeries and on the doorstep. Housing, and the infrastructure required to support it, is the single greatest threat to Cornwall’s future. Unless we address it, every other challenge becomes much harder. That is why Cornwall needs a strategic place partnership with Homes England.
Linked to those pressures is public transport—another area where our national systems were never designed for a duchy at the end of a long peninsula. Transport poverty is real: research shows it is one of the largest drivers pushing rural households into hardship. In Cornwall, car ownership is not a luxury but a lifeline. Without a car, many people cannot access work, healthcare or education, or even get to the nearest affordable shop. In Westminster’s funding models, car ownership is seen as a sign of affluence, largely because in many metropolitan areas public transport connectivity is such that residents simply do not need a car, but that not the case in Cornwall. When First Bus withdrew from Cornwall, citing financial pressures and the commercial unviability of rural routes, it reinforced what we have been saying for years: rural transport cannot be run on a purely commercial footing.
Rail links out of the duchy are similarly strained, with weather-linked delays frequent and connections unreliable. During moments of crisis, such as Storm Goretti on 8 January, when winds reached 111 mph, ripping roofs from buildings and uprooting trees, the weaknesses of our network are brutally exposed. As my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law) said, this Government have invested more than £100 million into Cornish businesses; if they want the Cornish economy to grow and Cornish people to work, learn and thrive, they must ensure that Cornwall, as a remote coastal community, is not left behind.
However, alongside those challenges lie extraordinary opportunities. Cornwall is at the forefront of some of the most exciting and strategically important sectors in the UK economy: critical minerals, renewable energy, maritime and space, agrifood and geothermal innovation. We celebrate £25 million invested into South Crofty to bring tin mining back and £31 million into Cornish Lithium to support the transition to a clean energy economy. The UK’s first geothermal power plant was switched on just last Thursday, generating clean electricity 24 hours a day for 10,000 homes. This comes alongside new production of lithium carbonate, which is vital for battery manufacturing. We must also celebrate the £30 million Kernow industrial growth fund that the Chancellor announced in the Budget, investing to unlock industrial growth.
Cornwall is not just part of the UK’s clean energy transition; the Cornish Celtic tiger is leading it. With geothermal heat, geothermal power, critical minerals, modern mining, space technology, offshore renewables, high-value agrifood and floating offshore wind, Cornwall is at the cutting edge.
Tomorrow, people from Sennen to Saltash will proudly wave the black and white of our flag, children will learn the story of St Piran and communities will celebrate the spirit that has carried Cornwall through centuries of change. St Piran’s day is a celebration of not only our past, but our future; a future where Cornwall’s identity is recognised, our language supported, our economy empowered, our transport strengthened, our housing crisis addressed and our communities given the powers to shape our own future. Gool Peran Lowen, Madam Deputy Speaker—happy St Piran’s day.