Councillor Travels to Poland to Attend Conference

A Redruth councillor will leave Cornwall this weekend (4th September 2011) to attend a weeklong conference in Poland.

Cllr. John Rowe, who represents Mebyon Kernow (MK) on Carn Brea Council, was selected to take part in the conference by the European Youth Forum, which is Europe’s largest youth organisation. Cllr. Rowe, who is 26 years of age, is MK’s youth coordinator and an active member of the Camborne and Redruth Branch. The European conference will receive delegates from most European states and will aim to foster better cooperation between young people, between west and east Europe in particular.

Speaking to members of the executive committee of the Branch, Cllr. Rowe said that by attending the conference he hoped to meet with representatives from some of the eastern European countries whose young people have moved to Cornwall for work. Cllr. Rowe said:

"Coming from a farming family in Barriper I have regularly come into contact with different people’s from eastern Europe and I would like to gain a better understanding of the situation in these countries. Traditionally young people from Cornwall have left to travel to many countries throughout the world to look for work and this is still happening to an extent and this has created a brain drain effect. I hope to learn more from the shared dialogue about how social mobility has changed things in these other countries too."

Cllr. John Rowe can be contacted below:

Email: jpr2016@yahoo.co.uk
Phone: 01209 719645

Going that extra mile

MK Branch activists are regularly involved in charity work, which shows that our members are not just interested in party politics, but are sincerely concerned about the communities where they live.

Three branch activists who are regularly involved in charity work are Paul Jenkin, Cllr. John Rowe and Rhisiart Tal-e-bot. On Friday (19th August 2011) Cllr. John Rowe and Rhisiart Tal-e-bot undertook a mile long charity swim for MacMillan Cancer Support, while Paul Jenkin is using his talent to plan a music and art/craft event in Praze to raise money for the Precious Lives Appeal in October.

Speaking after the swim Cllr. Rowe said that it is important to take part in charity events in your local community, because it is necessary to show a community spirit and raise money for good causes along the way.

Further information about the Praze event, please contact Paul on minescape@freeuk.com.

Councillors Call for Debate on Cornish Assembly

Councillors from the Branch have signed an internet petition urging the UK Government to have a debate in the House of Commons about a devolved assembly for Cornwall.

Cornish campaigners started the e-petition, which has the support from the MK Branch executive committee and is meant to be an easy way for the general public to influence government policy in the UK.

The e-petition can be started about anything that the government is responsible for and if it gets at least 100,000 signatures within a year of being started, it will be eligible for debate in the House of Commons. If you'd like to show your support for a Cornish Assembly you can find the petition at the link below.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/3145

MK originally started the original petition calling for a Cornish Assembly that collected over 50 000 signatures.

Councillor for Carn Brea, John Rowe said:

"… it’s important because it can trigger a debate in Parliament about the issue. After getting 50,000 signatures in the assembly campaign in 2001, the Labour government completely ignored us, despite over 10 % of the Cornish electorate stating that they wanted an assembly. I hope by triggering a debate in the House of Commons, it would be harder for the political class to sweep the issue under the carpet again because it does not suit their agenda."