Question Time - Truro & Falmouth Candidate: Loic Rich

Over the last few days, Truro and Falmouth candidates have had the chance to answer your questions. Loic Rich, candidate for Cornish party, Mebyon Kernow has his say.

From Steve - Can you please tell me a little more about you and your background? As a Cornish candidate, can you tell me your local credentials?

I am Cornish born and bred, and have lived in the constituency most of my life. But I don’t think being born in Cornwall should make any difference to your suitability to be an elected representative in an area. Many people in Mebyon Kernow are new to Cornwall, because what we share in common is a commitment to make Cornwall a better place for one and all.

Mebyon Kernow – There is obviously the old adage that Cornish hardliners would like to see Cornwall gain independence. What is your take on Cornwall's relationship with Westminster, and what should be done to strengthen or change it? Also, what are your plans for town council work after the election.

Mebyon Kernow has been campaigning for a Cornish Assembly for many years, with broad public support, to make strategic decisions on things like planning, health, education and the economy. I believe in making services better for people, simply wanting Cornwall to be ‘independent’ for the sake of it is not very helpful. Our relationship within the UK and Europe is about having a voice and about belonging – not separation. There must be a dedicated Cornish MEP, we must have real local control in our councils, and we would like less control from Whitehall departments and more control by locally elected representatives. W e have complex housing and socio-economic problems, so to be a productive, ambitious and prosperous region of the United Kingdom a Cornish Assembly would really engage local people in the democratic process.

I was elected to Truro City Council in 2007, and so far have served on the planning, parks and finance committees, as well as being involved in local community groups and transport committees. I value this unpaid position as a great way to serve the community. The election is about tens of thousands of people making a decision on their future, and the future of Truro and Falmouth constituency, and the next city council election, when that happens, will be about Truro people making a decision on the future of the area also, and I would never pre-judge the opinions of the public!

From Samantha – Issue of parliamentary expenses. What accountability measure do you support?

I am campaigning for all expenses to be publicly available, and audited by an independent body. Mebyon Kernow is a small party in the UK, and we rely on individual donations and fundraising locally. I cannot understand why elected representatives would want to profit by so much money when they claim to be in their positions in an effort to serve the public.

From Georgina - What are the candidates’ views on the proposed plans to transfer cancer surgery out of Cornwall to Plymouth? Also, what is your view on nurse training at the Knowledge Spar?

There are plans to switch to “exclusively degree” level training programmes, which will mean that hundreds of students will have to start travelling to Plymouth.

Centralising specialist health care can increase survival rates. But as Treliske is an existing specialist centre then I would prefer this health care to be centralised into Cornwall.

Mebyon Kernow believes that Cornwall should a dedicated university, building on the work done by Combined Universities in Cornwall. Nurse training would be a part of that, and for it to take place in Cornwall, using the knowledge spa or other training centre, would help many students financially, and educationally, bringing quality education and training into Cornwall.

From Chris – Obviously change is a big part of this election. Can you tell me what kind of things you plan to do differently to Matthew Taylor.

Because of Cornwall’s location as a peripheral region in the UK, we have always benefited more from a strong constituency MP, visible and willing to take on constituent’s problems and be visible presence in Cornwall, as well as a voice in Westminster. I would like to build on previous MP’s work in Truro and Falmouth, and get real change for Cornwall in Parliament as a Mebyon Kernow MP would have no London party bosses to please, only the issues that matter – including jobs, housing, and education - to the people of Truro and Falmouth.

From Nat – How do you plan to juggle countryside preservation with the need for affordable housing. It just feels like Truro is seen as 'fair game' for developers as it is seen as a city.

Our Mebyon Kernow Cornwall Councillors are presently working on a new planning policy for Cornwall. We hope this will be a step forward for Cornwall to be able to stand up to developers, and put an end to building houses for speculation and profit, and instead for building houses for local needs, and without cluttering up the Cornish landscape.

Too much already of Truro has been overdeveloped, yet local people still find getting just reasonable housing for a reasonable price is a huge problem. We need to be tougher with developers, and the more of us that can do that, the better things will be in the future for Truro, and all of Cornwall, as all it requires is the political will to do so.

From Sue – How do you find the local campaigning process? How do you tread the line between legitimately going after your opponents and outright negativity?

I knock doors and speak to local people about Mebyon Kernow policy on housing, jobs, environment, planning, health, public services and a range of other issues that are important to them. I am rarely asked for my views on the other parties, mainly because few people are interested in bringing them up unless it is to do with expenses. The London parties seem to be saying things like ‘vote for such and such party to stop the other party’ which isn’t really that informative or much of a conversation topic. I’ve met all the other candidates and haven’t a bad word to say about them as people and don’t see the point of negative campaigning in that way, as it looks desperate and puts off voters.

As far as the other parties’ track record in Cornwall and the UK goes, I believe the public are the best judge of that.

From Lewis – What is your stance on the DNA database, ID cards in relation to defence vs civil liberties.

I believe the proposed ID card system is inappropriate, costly, and unnecessary. I don’t believe it will help improve UK security as much as is claimed, and certainly would adversely affect UK civil liberties.

From Iain – There is a percentage of empty shop space in Truro and Falmouth. What is your plan for dealing with this?

Business rates according to what businesses can afford. Supermarkets get a much better deal with business rates compared to the small independent traders that make Truro and Falmouth unique centres for small and specialist shops that attract people here in the first place. They must be allowed to trade without unfair rates, and a rate system based on gross profit or similar, would ensure the long term economic prospects for Truro and Falmouth.

From Michael – Cornwall has only developed its own HE structure over the last 10 years. What is your view on student top up fess for Falmouth?

Mebyon Kernow believes in quality education for all based on merit not on wealth, and so we are opposed to any system of privately paid-for higher education in our public universities and colleges in Cornwall and the UK. Already though, universities are being asked to find more cash and increase prices for their courses, and many professionals in the sector are worried about their jobs. We believe Cornwall needs courses that better reflect UK employment opportunities, locally and nationally, as well as internationally. The emphasis should be on quality of courses, not trying to cram as many as possible into higher education, especially when many would prefer more vocational paths, such as apprenticeships.

This type of action would save money and save jobs in the important academic areas where there is real demand, and put an end to the increased commercialisation of academic study and training.

From Helen – I recently had a family member in hospital. I have a child and work part time. Owing to the ever increasing fees, I spent over £100 on parking. When you factor in buying her fruit etc, and the odd coffee, it cost me around £200 pounds to see her over several weeks. What are you going to do about this?

I would investigate the legal contract regarding the private control of our hospital car parking arrangements, to see whether there was a cost effective way that the NHS could end the contract, and allow free parking, or at least reduced priced parking. The park and ride at Langarth can be useful for visitors, but it doesn’t go far enough as many visitors and patients will need to park right at the hospital. I believe public services should be given a real say in controlling how private companies can profit from services such as health care. Public services are there for the people, not profiteering. Mebyon Kernow has always campaigning for services to be as local as possible, and certainly not a means for private companies to make every other point of service a means to make money, especially in a health care environment. It is bad enough going through an airport, and unfortunately this culture has now imposed itself within hospitals.

From Laura – What do you expect from the final televised debate? And what is your plan for the final week of campaigning?

I believe the televised debates are unfair to the smaller parties, and don’t provide enough information on policy to the public. The debates give a skewed picture of the UK political arena, and seem more like a game show than a means to give an informed political discourse. As potential leaders, the debates are useful as a means to assess the performance attributes of the individuals involved, and this can be important when considering their reactions and communication skills as hypothetical statesmen.

My plan for the final week of campaigning is to meet as many people as possible and explain to them why voting for Mebyon Kernow would mean a better deal for the people of Cornwall.