Cornwall's Hidden Deprivation

Despite attracting millions of visitors with its beautiful beaches, restaurants, gardens and unique culture, Cornwall remains a place where many local people struggle with unaffordable housing, insecure and seasonal employment, limited access to healthcare, and expensive or unreliable transport.

In a Westminster Hall debate on Coastal Communities: Isolation and Hidden Deprivation, I, alongside Cornwall’s other Labour MPs, argued that Cornwall’s beauty can often hide the hardship local families face.

If we are serious about opportunity for all, and I know this Labour Government is, we need to address rural deprivation and see rural and coastal places for what they are, with their specific advantages and challenges.

The Cornish MPs have worked hard with this Labour government to address Cornwall’s challenges and harness future opportunities. I welcome all the progress we’ve made so far through policies such as the £30 million Kernow Industrial Growth Fund to support key sectors, the bus franchising pilot to address rurality in the delivery of bus services, the uplift in SEND funding and local government funding for adult social care based on sparsity and rurality and other initiatives. But we each remain committed to calling for further support to accurately reflect what Cornwall needs to achieve its potential.