I AM humbled to have been elected to serve as Cornwall Councillor for the residents of the division of Looe West, Pelynt, Lansallos and Lanteglos after the sad passing of Looe maid, Edwina Hannaford. 

I thank MP Sheryll Murray for congratulating me on my win, (Cornish Times, April 10) I can assure her that I’m looking forward to the general election, and another win for the Liberal Democrats!

She states that she welcomed Lord Booth, the Tory Party donor, to Boconnoc House, at the same time I was talking to residents in Pelynt struggling with the cost of living crisis and people in West Looe who were very concerned that neither her party or Labour are taking the climate crisis seriously.

When Cornwall Council came under the control of the Tories in 2021, our MP stated that things would get better now the Tories are controlling Cornwall Council with all six MPs and in government. However, I have found out that things are getting worse, with a huge increase of casework since I was last a Cornwall Councillor, because of a reduction in services, and less money to repair potholes, more homelessness, and a cost of living crisis.

So please bear with me whilst I catch up with outstanding issues that I have picked up whilst campaigning and I am briefed on problems and projects in the division. If you need to contact me my Cornwall Council email is cllr.jim.candycornwall.gov.uk.

Cllr Jim Candy for Looe West, Pelynt,  Lanteglos and Lansallos

SOME interesting questions posed by Cllr Martin in last week’s Cornish Times, April 24. ‘What can a government do when they’ve been in power for fourteen years and everything is going wrong?’ The question unfortunately implies that the current state of things has just arisen and is not the result of policies and decisions consciously made.

Our government chose their policy of austerity. They chose to underfund the NHS. They chose to vote through the environment bill to allow a greater release of sewage into our waterways. They chose to continue to allow no-fault evictions. They chose to underfund local councils. They chose not to honour their commitment of adhering to similar levels of EU funding for Cornwall.

The answer to the question must surely be to call for a general election sooner rather than later.

The other big question by Cllr Martin, ‘So what are Labour’s solutions?’

They are not ‘weak’ or ‘tokenistic’ as Cllr Martin suggests, they are solutions that make a real difference to ordinary people’s everyday lives.

Get the NHS back on its feet: provide people with more appointments and give greater help and support to GPs. Reform NHS dental provision and increase accessibility to appointments. Get our waterways cleaned up: clamp down on water companies that are polluting and get them to clean up their mess and invest in infrastructure. Put an end to no-fault evictions, support renters and actually adhere to house building targets. Support UK agriculture and British farmers: increase support for British produce and reduce the red tape to ease exports to our closest markets.

Only Labour has a proven track record in working hard to make policies bring about change. They have a history of improving standards and satisfaction in the NHS and in improving people’s living standards with the minimum wage and tax credits. The Liberal Democrats have never managed to implement important policies, even their unfortunate spell in coalition government found them reneging on some of their most important manifesto pledges, such as abolishing tuition fees. To vote for change you need to vote Labour.

Louise Ladd

Via email

IT was good to read the first column by the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate, Anna Gelderd, in last week's paper.

She is just the right person to deliver an historic victory for Labour in South East Cornwall, where they're now ahead of the Tories in the polls. ( seat explorer electoral calculus.co.uk)

Further on, it was good to read Colin Martin promoting Labour Party solutions to what Rishi Sunak calls 'sick note culture'. Prevention, early intervention and properly funded councils are of course the bedrock of Labour's plans, cited by Conservative MP, Dr Dan Poulter, as his reason for crossing the floor of parliament to join the Labour benches. In his words, "the only cure is a Labour government."

Sally Sweeney

Lostwithiel

Recently Mrs Lyn Murray spent just short of a month in Moorgate Ward, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. Whilst there she saw the need for an extra piece of ward equipment that was badly needed. The item was a Sara stedy transfer aid to assist patients going to and from the facilities on the ward as the existing one was in constant use leaving people waiting.

On release from hospital Mrs Murray immediately set out to raise funds to purchase a new unit by a coffee morning and table top sale efforts. She also petitioned her own charity, the Queens Awarded C.H.A.T, Community Health Around Torpoint and the Lions Club of Torpoint & Rame Peninsula and a generous donation from the Tuesday Club in Millbrook.

Between all those sources the funds were raised in quick time and registered with the Derriford Hospitals charity office with the explicit instruction that the money was to be used for the Sara Stedy unit for the ward and other items that ward manager Kate Rayner, had identified as important for patient wellbeing. They were DAB radios and Kindle Fire tablets and sensory boxes.

Stephen Murray

Torpoint & Rame Peninsula Lions Club