Truro and Falmouth candidates on Brexit, fishing and farming

Here we ask the candidates standing in Truro and Falmouth for their views on two subjects – Brexit and Farming and Fishing and the answers from those who responded are below.

Brexit

Jennifer Forbes – Labour

I want to see better conditions for people in work, and better protection for our environment. The Tories want us to leave the EU and sell off our NHS to Trump and his backers. I believe the only way to reunify the country is through a second referendum in which remaining is one of the options.

Ruth Gripper – Liberal Democrat

Truro and Falmouth constituency voted to remain in the EU, and like so many in this area I passionately believe we are stronger and better off as part of Europe.

Leaving Europe will leave us poorer and more isolated in the world, and deprive Cornwall of more than £80m funding a year.

Important issues such as climate change and our public services have been neglected over the past few years as time, energy and money have all been focused on Brexit – and we’ve got nowhere. Even if Boris Johnson gets his Brexit deal, that is just the end of the beginning– and the beginning of years more negotiations. There is no deal better than the one we already have. A Lib Dem government would revoke Article 50 and remain in Europe.

Cherilyn Mackrory – Conservative

I am adamant that we need to ensure the result of the 2016 referendum is respected. People voted in good faith and most people I speak to on the doorstep tell me they are sick and tired of MPs trying to frustrate the process of exiting the EU.

The Prime Minister has agreed a deal with the EU for the UK to leave. We will take back control. We will:

- write our own legislation

- negotiate trade deals with countries around the world

- no longer be subject to the European Court of Justice (ECJ)

- a better arrangement for farming and fishing.

But Parliament has repeatedly voted to frustrate attempts to agree and implement a reasonable deal. It is highly likely there would have been endless amendments to try to stop us actually leaving the EU. The final deal agreed by Parliament would have probably kept us in a customs union, unable to do our own trade deal, and still subject to the ECJ, but without any say in most future regulation or legislation.

I will wholeheartedly support Boris to ensure that his deal can be agreed by Parliament, and the necessary legislation voted through, so that we can leave the EU as soon as possible.

Tom Scott – Green

I think Brexit a disaster for this country and I’ve campaigned against it here in Cornwall for the last couple of years.

The Brexit that’s shaping up is nothing like the false promises that were made by Boris Johnson and others in 2016, and when you’re sold a faulty product you have every right to send it back. Pretty much every poll for the past two years has shown that most people now see our current membership of the EU as better than any deal that’s been proposed. And Boris Johnson’s exit deal will not mean we “get Brexit done”. It will be the start of many more years of protracted wrangling and uncertainty, with very likely no trade deal at the end of it.

That’s why we need a People’s Vote, so people can say whether they actually want to press ahead with this act of national self-harm.

Farming & Fishing

Jennifer Forbes – Labour

Although these industries account for a relatively small part of Cornwall’s economy, they are highly visible – and desperately important to the communities for whom they are a way of life.

Labour will re-introduce a food policy, across Whitehall, to end the fragmentation, chaos and incompetence of the present government.

Labour is the true party for farmers and smallholders – as opposed to the party for large, multinational agri-business. Labour will invest in Cornwall’s natural environment and long history of expertise to promote local food production.

Labour will end the sell-off of council farms, making it easier for young people to enter the agricultural sector.

Workers living in seaside areas in Great Britain earn on average £1,600 less per year than those living inland. Nearly 80% of all fish landed in Cornwall are sold to other European Union countries. Only Labour will protect Cornwall’s inshore fishing community, promoting its produce to enhance its value, and reduce dependency on continental markets.

Ruth Gripper – Liberal Democrat

Farming is a Cornish success story and one which we should all be shouting about. I worry about the impact that Brexit will have on farmers; it has already affected the seasonal workforce we rely on, with cauliflowers and daffodils left unpicked last year. The seasonal agricultural workers scheme needs expanding rapidly to make sure farmers here in Cornwall can access the labour they need.

I know not all farmers share my view on Brexit. But I do share their concerns that whatever happens, we need to ensure that food, farming and welfare standards are maintained and not traded away by a Conservative government looking to secure a trade deal.

Similarly among our fishing communities, views on Brexit are mixed. I am concerned about the impact Brexit will have given the majority of fish landed in Cornwall is exported to the EU.

Cherilyn Mackrory – Conservative

Farming and fishing forms part of the lifeblood of the Cornish economy. Brexit gives us the opportunity to free these industries from the shackles of the Common Agricultural and Common Fisheries Policies.

This government has already introduced the new £15.4m Maritime Fisheries Fund (MFF), which is designed to ensure the fishing and seafood industry continues to thrive once the UK leaves the EU. The money will be used to fund new technology, improving UK ports and improving safety on fishing vessels and on shore.

I would also like to work with IFCA, the industry and local marine conservationists, to create a working plan where we can protect the precious spawning grounds, whilst ensuring a robust and prosperous future for our inshore fleet.

The Government’s plans for agriculture and for supporting the sector as the UK leaves the European Union are underpinned by the Agriculture Bill. The Bill is a central part of the Government’s programme of legislation to deliver as smooth a departure as possible and achieve a green Brexit.

At the heart of our new policy in Cornwall will be a system that pays public money for public goods. Our future agriculture policy will help farmers continue to provide a supply of healthy, home-grown produce made to high environmental and animal welfare standards.

Tom Scott – Green

The land and the soil are hugely important carbon sinks, but their capacity to absorb carbon is being very seriously reduced by the way that much of our land is used. We can’t go on drenching our land with nitrogen fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. This is disastrous for wildlife, and especially for bees and other pollinators.

We think government should be working with farmers to refocus farm subsidies so they help farms transition to more environmentally friendly forms of land use, including organic farming, agroforestry and mixed farming, and away from intensive livestock farming. Amongst other things, this could encourage the expansion and replanting of hedgerows, which provide vital habitats for wildlife.

We also want to change the law to give farmers greater security of tenure, so that they can invest in sustainable improvements to their land. At the moment a lot of land is bought up by very rich people to use as a tax shelter, which makes it very hard for new entrants into farming to actually find land to farm.

For the seas, by 2030 the Green Party wants to see at least 30% of UK domestic waters made into fully protected marine areas which cannot be trawled or fished, to allow stocks to recover.