Why I want the job of being your MP

As Parliament was dissolved yesterday, people paid tribute to Matthew Taylor, who was the MP for Truro and St Austell for 23 years. When Matthew Taylor announced in 2007 he was standing down at the end of this Parliament, he said that the biggest thing he had achieved as an MP was the A30 Goss Moor by pass.

If I can do one thing as your future MP, it will be to bring together the investment that is needed for the dredging and development of Falmouth docks to make Falmouth's economy more sustainable, lifting the town's economy to the same level as Truro. This is what I said when I was interviewed recently on the BBC Politics Show (11 April broadcast, last report); the editors cut it.

Achieving this for Falmouth has the support of Labour in Government and Cornwall Council are a partner in the proposals. It will help to support the development of wave power and renewable energy as a new local industry.

Everybody understands that an MP of the Party of Government is more likely to be pushing on an open door.

Falmouth can't afford to wait 20 years for the economic development we need. Labour can win Truro and Falmouth on a swing like that which made Julia Goldsworthy MP in 2005.

The grand national

For months the Liberal Democrats have spouted the language of bookies at the grand national, shouting two or three horse odds.

Nationally, as the general election started, Nick Clegg claimed lamely that it's a three horse race.

Reality message to Nick Clegg - here in Falmouth and Truro your vote is roughly divided between those who would rather have a Tory, and those who would rather have a Labour Government.

In this constituency, seven candidates have so far declared. Only one, like Ophelia, prays for remembrance, claiming that this time it's a two horse race - and, occasionally, crys in the wind that this must be a safe seat for the joke Party.

As Labour's candidate I make no apology for being in touch with reality. This is a three way seat. A swing to Labour of similar proportions to that which led to Julia Goldsworthy's election in 2005 will return a Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth.

Total politics

There has been no shortage of things to blog about, just a lack of writing time. This weekend I wrote the PPC diary and review of the week for the political magazine Total Politics. I decided to focus on local news production and community media. It was published today and I decided to include it here too.

Sunday 21 February

First up an 8am interview about Fairtrade fortnight on BBC radio Cornwall - as a Truro councillor, I chair the city's Fairtrade group. With me are two youth workers from the charity Young People Cornwall, who run some great projects and are helping to raise awareness of Fairtrade. As we part company after the interview, one of the youth workers dubs me the "Fairtrade guru".

Monday 22 February

I do a candidate interview on Penryn community radio The Source. I enjoy talking to Gwen Willoughby, whose programme creates the relaxed atmosphere of a chat in the kitchen. Gwen starts the telephone interview by asking my view on the news headlines. Her concerns about the number 10 allegations by Andrew Rawnsley confirms for me that this is probably going to be the issue that local voters will want to talk about today. Later in the programme, Gwen gives me a good opportunity to chat about my constituency priorities. No sooner had I put the phone down, than I got a call from a broadcasting student asking if I could go to the campus to be filmed at their studio this afternoon - I said no, because of other commitments.

Tuesday 23 February

Monday's Council and today’s community network meeting both include discussion of plans for local development including new park and rides, and housing needs. I express my concern at Cornwall Council's decision to market a former school site in my ward as a potential district retail centre, and to reduce the affordable housing expectation from 50 to 35 per cent, as well as cutting the total number of homes to be delivered on a site previously identified as for housing. A local newspaper journalist calls me for more information and a quote.

The community network meeting includes a housing presentation. I ask for an update on the Council's re-registration process. It emerges that something has gone badly wrong. Some households previously registered with more than one former district council, but nobody believes that the 7,000 households that have re-registered so far reflects the full extent of housing needs in Cornwall. Previously, there were over 18,000 households registered. The form is complex, and worryingly re-registrations are almost non-existent in some areas. I ask what the Council is doing to publicise the re-registration process, and I am now following up these concerns.

Wednesday 24 February

I give a short talk to politics and academic academy students at Truro College, and am impressed by the fact that both groups have lots of searching questions about politics and the news headlines. Discussions like this - and the fact that I can remember wanting to be able to vote when I was doing A-levels - contribute to my view that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen.

Thursday 25 February

I pick up copies of the local weekly newspapers. One of the local MPs is now expressing concern about the housing re-registration process. The former school site story gets a write up too, and the quote I gave them is included. In the early evening, I pre-record another telephone interview for The Source; and then meet a broadcasting student in Falmouth to record comments for her “radio programme” assignment on whether personality is important in politics.

Friday 26 February

On Friday evening, I catch up with some local political blogs. These are growing in number from Councillors, candidates, activists and commentators, and there are now new sites devoted to aggregating Cornish blogs and political comment. Most of the content is local, although the activists write comment on the news headlines too. This week, one anonymous blogger who isn’t a Labour supporter describes me as “media-savvy”. By late Saturday evening, the latest opinion poll showing Labour closing the gap to win is published online.

A bright future for Falmouth Penryn

Last week I attended the launch of Falmouth and Penryn's Community Plan. It's a fine example of what can be achieved when the community - individuals and organisations - sit down to talk about what their locality and people need. In this case, both the range of organisations working together to develop the plan, and the number of individuals who responded to the consultation, mean that decision makers can be confident the community is genuinely behind the plan.

Falmouth and Penryn have had their fair share of difficult issues and community divisions over parking, proposed housing developments on cherished green spaces, and adapting to the presence of the growing student population; so it's good to have a plan that has been generated by the community and is focused on future solutions. Cornwall Council chief executive Kevin Lavery spoke at the launch and gave the plan his backing, including the regeneration, dredging, and development of Falmouth docks.

The launch is well-timed because EU Convergence funding is still available for 'strategic investment frameworks' to help develop infrastructure and boost the economy. As two of the community plan's themes are 'transport and the community' and 'employment and prosperity' there is scope to bid for funds to start making some of the community's aspirations happen. The strategic investment framework by itself won't resolve the issue of funding to dredge the docks, but if it is successful it will help to put in place some of the sustainable transport links that are needed, as well as helping to create jobs in the digital, marine, and renewable sectors. That economic regeneration would be very much strengthened if the dredging and cruise liner terminal also go ahead.

These are developments that I'm also backing as a prospective MP because it is the future that many people say they want to see for the university, Penryn, and Falmouth.

This week, Falmouth is in the news for another reason. The proposed new terminal at Penzance for the Isles of Scilly ferry was refused planning permission on Monday. I feel sorry for the islanders because the ferry is their lifeline, and the links to and from Penzance are deeply rooted in the communities and economy at both ends of the sealink. The battle lines were drawn at an early stage when it proved impossible to get objectors and the planning portfolio holder in the same room to listen to each other - until the planning hearing. Rumours have now started up that Cornwall Council may look to Falmouth to provide the future ferry service. This is something that the company that owns Falmouth docks is exploring, and Cornwall Council has said it is now an 'option' they are considering. From what I'm hearing, people in Falmouth might accept this - and even welcome the boost to Falmouth's economy if that's the way it went - but the town would never set out to purposefully break the strong, long-standing links between Penzance and the Scillies.

Falmouth and Penryn have a bright future ahead.