New Clause 1 - Electorate per constituency

Part of Parliamentary Constituencies Bill – in the House of Commons at 4:30 pm on 14 July 2020.

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Photo of Ben Lake Ben Lake Plaid Cymru, Ceredigion 4:30, 14 July 2020

It is a pleasure to participate in this debate, and a particular pleasure to follow Cherilyn Mackrory, with whom I agree quite strongly that Cornwall is its own nation and should be respected. Indeed, in Committee, we received quite a bit of evidence to that effect from Cornwall Council and Councillor Dick Cole, who drew our attention to the fact that the UK Government recognised Cornwall as a minority nation back in 2014, and that its territorial integrity in terms of representation in this place must be respected.

I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member that that should be addressed. Where we might disagree somewhat is that I believe we perhaps need to go further —this is something that could be looked at again under this Bill, perhaps in the other place—to see how we can ensure that those safeguards for the people and the nation of Cornwall are adequately protected.