At Cornwall Council on January 21, we debated the devolution offer from Westminster and what it might mean for Cornwall, its residents, businesses and future.

I heard what a Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) entails, and what benefits it will bring. The first issue is size, as all MSAs must cover a population of at least 1,500,000. So we would have to partner with all local authorities in Devon. Then governance, as the infrastructure funding, housing strategy and transport policies would all be vested in one person, a mayor. They would not be elected by Proportional Representation, abolished by Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister, but by “first past the post” which favours the two larger parties, so more likely to be a well-known personality and come from a large heavily populated urban area rather than Cornwall.

But haven’t we been told we should have a mayor before? I remember a prominent Tory telling me he met David Cameron in 2015 at Newquay Airport and told him “if you think you are going to talk us into a mayor for Cornwall you may as well get back on that plane and go straight back to London!” Even last year we had the leader of Cornwall Council trying to persuade us to become a mayoral authority, only to find she didn’t even have enough support from her own party. However as a result of those discussions we did gain more powers over economic development, adult education and offshore wind. But now this Labour government is telling us again that we need to give up our autonomy.

We heard all sides of the argument during the debate, focused on the fact that we have a strong unique Cornish Identity, with huge issues of rurality, surrounded by the sea and Tamar. We have our own distinct character and language, relying heavily on farming and tourism. Others argued we need to join up now, take what we can get or be left behind.

One of the best speeches came from Cllr Andrew George, now also MP for St Ives. He said that all MPs and Councillors need to work together cross party, as they had in the past when they got Objective 1 funding, National Minority status and Falmouth University. He advocated that we hold our nerve whilst other willing authorities merge and wait our turn to get the bespoke deal which Cornwall deserves.

As a Liberal Democrat, I support devolution of powers from Westminster, but don’t believe that Cornwall will benefit by being governed by a single person. A mayor covering most of the South West peninsula (and perhaps based in Exeter) will fail to understand the issues and opportunities we in Cornwall face.