Derek Thomas MP weekly column March 5th 2024

I missed St Piran’s Day activity in West Cornwall, but Parliament did its best to match local celebrations. We declined the dancing, but the six Cornish MPs came together to offer MPs, staff and officials a Taste of Cornwall. I was pleased to host Treveador Farm Dairy and their selection of cheeses such as the Helford Blue and Helford Camembert. Most years since being elected we have taken the opportunity to celebrate and promote Cornish business and St Piran’s Day is the obvious excuse. I was reminded recently that when I first stood for election, I promised to put West Cornwall and Scilly on the map in Parliament. Certainly, with the combined efforts of Cornwall’s MPs, Cornwall and Scilly is regularly referred to and punches above its weight in relation to making the case for solutions to issues that impact people across the country. These would include local housing, skills, producing quality food and enhancing the environment, health in rural areas and fishing. I hope those of you who took part in St Piran’s Day enjoyed the event.

Since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7th, I’ve had paint thrown over my office, posters plastered across the windows and the words Derek for Genocide painted across a railway bridge. I’ve had primers hurl vial abuse at me in front of my children with other young families standing by. And, among perfectly reasonable challenging correspondence to me calling on me and the Government to do more to stop the conflict in Gaza, others that are threatening, unacceptable and I suspect completely out of character for those that penned them. Despite this, I’m troubled that Parliament has shifted attention away from the situation in Israel and Gaza onto the safety and security of MPs. And the money recently announced towards the safety of MPs offers no more than is already available if and when needed. By shifting in this way, we run the risk of pandering to those who behave in the way I’ve described but I remember a different time. I distinctly remember the way British people responded to attacks by the IRA, the 7/7 horrors in the London and the attack on Parliament soon after I got elected. We were united in the fact that we would not kowtow to terrorism and these vicious attacks on our democracy, and we shouldn’t today. Our focus should be to do all we can to secure a peaceful solution in the Middle East and promote integration here in the West.

On Friday last, I met with NHS managers in Cornwall to discuss, among other things, NHS Dental Services. In recent weeks the Government set out its Dental Recovery Plan which is intended to ramp up NHS appointments to address the nationwide backlog since covid. NHS chiefs in Cornwall, who took on responsibility for the commissioning of dentistry last year, also have a plan to address the most urgent need. Ultimately, I’m keen to know if these initiatives are having any impact so please keep in touch about your experience of the availability of dental treatment.