It was fantastic that so many children and young people from local schools and colleges came together at New County Hall on 15th February to protest at the failure of politicians to do enough to combat climate change.

There are so many truly wonderful aspects to Cornwall’s identity and culture, and I personally consider that the most important factor in our distinctiveness to be the Cornish language. This is because, to me, the continued existence of our own Celtic language, emphasises that we have a national identity, rather than simply a regional or county character.

Cornwall Council recently published an impact assessment on the so-called “devolution deal,” that was agreed between it and the UK Government in 2015. The document sets out what has happened over the last three years or so.

In last week’s newspaper, I defended one of the recent investment decisions of the “Devon and Cornwall” Police Force. It related to the erection of two flagpoles at the Bodmin offices, one of which will fly the flag of St Piran, and I very much stand by what I wrote. But before the article was even published, it was announced that the failed attempt to merge the local constabulary with that of Dorset had cost a quarter of a million pounds.

The possibility of a local tourist tax is a regular topic for political discussion. Many councils, including the unitary authority in Cornwall, continue to ponder the benefits of using the mechanism to raise additional monies to support cash-strapped public services and have lobbied central government on this issue.

Yesterday, as the Brexit chaos and the Conservative infighting continued to engulf Westminster, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released its latest GVA (gross value added) figures.

The BBC’s Question Time programme – in which politicians and other public figures are quizzed on topical issues – was in Cornwall. The programme was broadcast from Mount’s Bay School in Penzance but, disrespectfully, not one of the five panellists came from Cornwall or even had a Cornish connection.

At the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister announced that the austerity of the last decade is to end and “support for public services will go up.”

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England has just published a new report about the housing market. It is critical of the extent of planned developments and the amount of countryside that is being lost, and it is also pointing out that the housing needs of local people are still not being met.

About eleven months ago, the “Boundary Commission for England” (BCE) published its proposals for new constituency boundaries for the next Westminster Parliament. This included a cross-Tamar parliamentary constituency, which was rightly condemned as an outrage that ignored a thousand years of history.