Remember the scene in ‘The Big Short’ when Mark Baum realises for the first time that the US economy is going to collapse after questioning a stripper about her five sub-prime mortgages?
Well, last week I witnessed something that opened my eyes to the certainty that the Tories will be wiped off the face of the electoral map in similar fashion in the next General Election, if the growing sentiment in Cornwall is anything to by.
I stumbled upon a music gig in Porthleven, a quaint Cornish fishing village that is popular with tourists. Playing at the top of the bill in the Shoals Brewery venue were ‘Ben Bowden & The Pards’, a rocky, punky folk act who embrace all things Cornish.
The huge Cornish flag and the ‘f@#k your second home’ banners were clear signs of what was going to be served up.
The band have become famous in Cornwall in recent weeks after the release of ‘The Spirit of Cornwall’, which captures the rising tide of Cornish pride even seeping into ‘Cornish nationalism’ in the county. As a result the song has achieved a huge amount of airtime on local radio stations.
The band delivers catchy, hopeful, and upbeat tub-thumping tunes about Cornwall and the Cornish. However, following 12 years of Tory rule, many of those songs are threaded with lyrics about being priced out of their villages (where multiple generations of the same family lived before them) by second home owners, struggling with the cost of living crisis, a lack of prospects for the young, and sewage being pumped onto their beaches.
What struck me, was the deep feeling and sentiment of the crowd who not only revelled in the music, but bellowed the catchy lines in a release of passion about how the current system is simply failing them.
After tentatively asking a number of audience members about their feelings towards the current state of affairs, it became clear that dissent is brewing. The state we find ourselves in as a nation has only served to add fuel to the notion that the Cornish do not want to be ruled by the Etonian elite 250 miles away in London, with ‘one rule for them, and one rule for everyone else’.
Like other areas of the UK, Cornwall was painted blue in the last General Election, when Boris swept the board with his promise to ‘Get Brexit Done’. Actually, Cornwall was painted blue even before then, in 2015 when the Lib Dems were wiped out following their disastrous coalition – but this was due to UKIP benefiting most of all and allowing the Conservatives to sweep into victory.
In one way, it was a surprise that Cornwall overwhelmingly voted in favour of Brexit in the first place, given that Cornwall was one of the primary beneficiaries of investment from Britain’s EU membership, and that many young Cornish people travel overseas during winters to find seasonal work and surf.
However, if you know anything about Cornwall’s history, you’ll know there is an independence of spirit that resides deeply within the Cornish soul, which probably explains the votes for both UKIP and Brexit, representing that desire for self determination.
That independent spirit dates back most famously to the uprising of An Gof and the Cornish rebellion of 1497, which is actually commemorated in Cornwall this week. It makes sense that a promise to ‘Take back control’ would appeal to Cornish folk. Especially combined with promises about fishing rights – an industry that underpins the very essence of Cornish industry.
Sadly, the realisation that Brexit and Tory rule has not delivered on that desire for independence has firmly set into the Cornish mindset. If you think there might be a sense that the Tories, and Brexit, have failed Cornwall, you’d be making a huge understatement.
Many of the harsh economic conditions that persisted during An Gof’s infamous rebellion exist today, and you can feel the same spirit of defiance bubbling beneath the surface the moment you cross the Tamar.
Granted, this was just one gig, in one town, in the vastness of Cornwall. But the depth of feeling is palpable.
I decided to extend my straw poll to almost everyone I encountered in Cornwall for the duration of my visit, and the responses were the same everywhere.
Cornish fishermen say they were sold a dream by the Leave campaign, which hasn’t materialised into anything other than swathes of paperwork. Post Brexit fishing rules that recently came into force were described by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations as a “sell out”.
Many fishermen quickly realised how reliant they were on European trade, but now feel restricted to one market, with fresh fish decaying before it is even able to pass the border. Others fear that trade deals with poorer pacific nations will only aid the influx of cheaper fish from devastating super trawlers and bad fishing practices.
The hurt that Cornish people feel from the second home epidemic, dubbed as the ‘David Cameron effect’ also understandably breeds descent. People are forced to move away from their entire family because the price of coastal homes have simply become ridiculous. Not only that, but the volume of second homes leaves once thriving communities dead in the winter months.
Conservatives have also blocked many of the sustainable energy projects, setting Cornwall back by a decade. Cornwall was previously leading the way in this sector. This is a nation of people who live and breathe nature and sustainability.
Finally, there is the revelation that the privatised water companies, paying their executives and shareholders millions of pounds, pumped 230,000 hours of raw sewage onto Cornwall’s beloved beaches. Nobody needs reminding of Cornwall’s love affair with surfing.
Ben Bowden & the Pards latest release captures the current mood of Cornwall, and probably much of the nation. In fact, the song has been sponsored by the famous Ann’s Pasties, and the Cornish take their pasties very seriously.
Undoubtably, Cornish people will soon be holding their representatives to account and demanding that they stand up and do better, for everyone’s sake, for Cornwall, and for the future of young people in this county.
They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again. As Ben Bowden & the Pards put it: “When Michael Joseph died. And our rights had been denied. One and all, we stood, Together.”.
The question now is, will the Cornish MPs follow the form of their colleagues and jump before they are pushed by standing down before the next election? The writing’s on the wall, and to me it looks like a black flag with a white cross.
Related: Tories facing biggest by-election defeat in history in Nadine Dorries’ seat
