live event

Thank you for the live event. I really welcome this opportunity for Cornwall to open up the conversation about a possible future. However, I was deeply frustrated to hear such old familiar rhetoric from the panel. There were many vital issues raised but surely it’s time to move on from the old cliche of “building on our successes”. This is merely a symptom of our top down political system which favours and values performance above any real innovation or initiative, both of which require a high level of risk and experimentation. The successes that each of the panelists were so eager to site were great and valuable but, let’s be honest, anyone can turn to any lifestyle magazine anywhere in the world to find such similar stories. Investing in success is, from my point of view, an old adage that has partly got us in the mess we now find ourselves. It’s all about winning at the cost of the hundreds and thousands of people who get left behind in that process. It favours the few and creates an intellectual and economic elite. For me, perhaps the most shocking thing to have come out of this pandemic was to learn that second home owners were receiving a free £10,000 grant from the government whilst our undervalued health, care and key workers were risking their lives to save our community on a pittance of a salary. Shame on us for allowing that to happen, it shows where our real values lie.

I speak from my own personal experience as an architect and senior lecturer. I have had the extreme privilege of having my voice heard and my actions celebrated but at all times have been acutely aware that I’ve been privy to an elite which is not just merely naval-gazing but self-serving and deeply prejudice. I use prejudice not in terms of race but in terms for a prejudice towards ideas and values that meet their own.

I was particularly disappointed to see the panel’s reaction to a question about a possible citizens assembly. There was a blank silence followed by one of the panel saying something like “I don’t think people are interested in the mechanics of democracy - I think they just want to do something”. Surely this whole thing is about decision making and democracy. Why invite people to engage in their future if you are not really serious about giving them a voice? Having been involved in education for over twenty years I have learnt that education is easy - engagement is extremely difficult. So why are so many not engaged? Perhaps it's because they feel they have no agency, no hope, no confidence or optimism in their own future. This must be the biggest challenge that faces us as a society.

I strongly believe that if we were brave enough to rise to the challenge of equality that the issues discussed by the panel would shape themselves differently in a much more positive and sustainable way. I would like to take this opportunity to challenge the leaders of Cornwall’s agencies to stop being so nice and so corporate about Cornwall being ‘a brand’ - be bold, take risks, make a difference! Invest in the failures and let the successes look after themselves - they will anyway- then we can really start to use language like innovation, inclusivity, authenticity and diversity.