What are the policies of regional political parties?

Fowey, Cornwall, Ava Lily

With new Prime Minister Andy Burnham promising greater devolution, it’s good to also look at regional political parties (there are a few, we’ll just focus on the main two in this post). If local people voted more for them, they may well have greater powers, if mayors end up having more tax money to play with:

Mebyon Kernow (Cornwall’s own political party!)

Mebyon Kernow is the official political party for Cornwall. It wants its own devolved parliament (just like other Celtic nations such as Scotland) so it could use its local power to campaign for local people.

MK is not in the pocket of big business, and has no political masters in London to please. While our members always fight for what we think is best for Cornwall. Mebyon Kernow

Who leads Mebyon Kernow?

• Councillor Dick Cole is the party leader. An elected councillor for over 25 years, he previously worked for Cornwall Archaeological Unit. In his time in local politics, he has made 55 successful grant applications for local parish councils and community groups, raising over £1 million.
• Former leader Councillor Loveday Jenkin (what a lovely name!) is an ecologist who is active in the Cornish language movement, and the party spokesperson in the language.
• Councillor Andrew Long is active with a community group which holds a soup run for homeless people in Plymouth.

The party also has 28 regional town and parish councillors across the county.

What are policies of Mebyon Kernow?

• Affordable housing (Cornwall is full of empty second homes pricing locals out). So the party would put limits on Airbnb residences, in line with what Barcelona has done abroad.
• Saving local shops and pubs – Cornwall is quite a long way from supermarket central distribution houses. So the party would promote local food and beer, to keep money within communities.
• Climate change measures – Cornwall often suffers from freak weather, often due to climate change policies set at Westminster.

A potential ban on Cornish campaigning?

Reform UK does not appear to care about Cornwall. Recently many local MPs resigned, after being told by national office to focus less on local issues, and more on scrapping net zero and stopping stopping immigration.

Byline Times reports that Richard Tice MP has recently introduced a Bill (signed by all sitting Reform UK MPs) to ban the use of Cornish, Scottish or Irish languages on election leaflets, facing a fine or possible six months in jail if not compliant?

I find it worrying that MPs have such little respect for the Cornish language. The clause is so daft that it would even ban people from campaigning. We would not be allowed to use our party name on election materials, as it is in Cornish. Mebyon Kernow councillor

Cornish councillors may be told they can’t campaign in Cornish. But this is not a site owned by government, so we can. And here’s our message:

Yma dhe’n bobel a Gernow rag dewis yethow aga kampanya aga honan, na Reform UK

Following in the footsteps of George Fox?

If Cornish people go to jail in protest at peaceful politics, they will be in good company! Quaker founder George Fox (who was mostly based at Ulverston in Cumbra with his wife, when one or the other was not in jail) was imprisoned for 9 weeks at Launceston jail. For refusing to confirm to religious and social customs, and having long hair!

On his release, he refused to pay a fine for not removing his hat in court – and was promptly thrown in jail again! Locals who visited him were so impressed, it helped to spread the movement. George will be sure to be cheering on the Cornish people, from wherever he is!

Yorkshire Party (a strong local democratic voice)

Yorkshire Dales, Ava Lily

Yorkshire Party is a regional political party for one of England’s largest counties. It’s home to over 6 million people, quite a few cities and three National Parks (the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and parts of the Peak District). Plus it has a stunning coastline on the East coast.

So it’s important that parliament in London listens to what local people have to say. As they have real issues from habitat loss to ocean pollution, that need addressing in this beautiful part of the world.

What are Yorkshire Party policies?

This is a left-of-centre party that has quite a few official policies:

• More investment in public transport
• Zero tolerance for pollution
• Retain the ban on fracking (this is to retrieve shale gas which makes tap water go on fire and has links to cancer). This has been supported in the past by many ‘not in my backyard’ MPs like Liz Truss. After she left power, Rishi Sunak did to his credit, reverse the policy.

Our fields aren’t for drilling – they’re for living. Yorkshire party

Who runs Yorkshire Party?

Leader Laurence Waterhouse trained as an oceangrapher and hydrographic surveyor (maps underwater environments) who spent 30 years working with British Waterways, before taking early retirement. He is an expert on preventing floods and climate adaptation. This all sounds very good!

After working for a Labour MP, he then joined the Yorkshire Party and even stood as a candidate against Rishi Sunak in the 2019 election. In his spare time he enjoys travel writing and is author of a novel set in 1940s Majorca Whispers in the Pines (we would link to it, but can’t find a listing!)

The argument that Yorkshire only receives ‘scraps from London’s table (in an area that has almost the same population as the capital city) is why there is a regional party in the first place. There’s a public spending shortfall of £14 billion across Yorkshire each year.

It has stood in two mayoral elections, and had over 5000 votes.