Ben Maguire MP Maiden Speech
Ben Maguire, MP for North Cornwall, making his maiden speech to Parliament
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00:00I congratulate the hon. Member for West Bromwich on an excellent maiden speech. It is the greatest
00:14honour of my life to be giving my maiden speech in this place as the Member for my home constituency
00:20of North Cornwall, where I was born and brought up. I will always be grateful to the people
00:25of North Cornwall for putting their trust in me. There are, unfortunately, too many
00:30supporters and friends and family to thank for their hard work and dedication for getting
00:35me to this place, but I must just give a special thanks to my mother Jennifer, father Joseph
00:41and my husband Manuel for their unwavering love and support. A huge thank you as well
00:47to my agent and sister Rosie. To every single member of my campaign, you are quite simply
00:53the best team that any candidate could wish for, and you showed such amazing dedication
00:58to our area. I would not be here without you, and I will not let you down.
01:03It is also a pleasure to contribute to this debate celebrating our Olympic and Paralympic
01:07athletes. I grew up in the small but now golden rural village of Wytheal, and soon after my
01:14election my former Wytheal neighbour Morgan Boulding won gold in the men's eight rowing.
01:20I commend Morgan and all of our Team GB Olympic and Paralympic athletes for their amazing
01:24successes this summer. I would like to just start by paying tribute to my predecessor
01:30Scott Mann, who supported much-needed transport initiatives such as better rail connectivity
01:36to North Cornish towns. I will continue this work by fighting for much-needed transport
01:42infrastructure, which, despite North Cornwall's large size, does not contain a single mainline
01:48rail station, and vital bus routes are routinely cut. I thank Scott for his service, and I
01:55wish him the very best for his future endeavours.
01:59North Cornwall has a great Liberal tradition, and so I would also like to pay tribute to
02:03my Liberal predecessor John Pardoe, who is still fondly remembered on many doorsteps
02:08for his dedication as North Cornwall's MP in the 1960s and 1970s. In more recent times
02:15Paul Tyler and Dan Rogerson were also fantastic Liberal Democrat representatives who fought
02:20tirelessly for our area. I was honoured to receive the support and advice of all three
02:26former members during my election campaign, and they have set the bar very high for me
02:30indeed.
02:31While the election campaign was mostly a positive experience, we did have one crisis moment.
02:40Having advertised a meet-and-greet where cream teas would be sold, the real dangers
02:45of AI were brought home to me. A volunteer had produced the event poster using ChatGPT
02:51or something similar. They had found a photo of a cream tea, but tragically this was a
02:57dystopian Devon version with the cream on first and the jam on top. Before anyone had
03:04spotted this egregious error, it had been published all over my social media. As a proud
03:11Cornishman, it was indeed a shameful moment, and we immediately went into crisis mode.
03:17Luckily, we survived this unfortunate episode, and I will be sure that I am never again associated
03:22with any cream tea which is not jam first.
03:30Preparing for this speech, I read those of my predecessors and noted the tragic resonance
03:35they still have today. John Pardo, back in 1966, described our area as neglected and
03:41exporting a mass of young people. Paul Tyler, in 1974, explained the housing shortage is
03:48now a major social evil again, and Dan Rogerson, in 2005, said North Cornwall has more second
03:54homes than council houses. As a young person, I felt I had no other choice than to leave
04:01and seek opportunities elsewhere, so I talk from experience when I say that these statements
04:06will sadly remain just as true today. Working to bring well-paid, highly skilled jobs to
04:12our area will be at the top of my to-do list. With the new Government's pledge to build
04:17more houses, are we fighting to make sure we don't continue to just see more and more
04:23executive homes without the appropriate infrastructure and which are far beyond the reach of local
04:29people? I sincerely hope my future successor does not need to again lament the appalling
04:36state of Cornish housing 60 years from now. Everyone in Cornwall must have a safe and
04:43a secure place to live. I must admit, since my election, I've been shocked by the number
04:49of crises currently facing our great Duchy. My inbox is bursting with cases of children
04:55needing urgent treatment in A&E due to tooth infections, with some parents even resorting
05:00to using pliers to extract their child's rotten teeth because they can't get an NHS
05:05dentist. GP appointments continue to be hard to come by, pharmacies are closing, and waiting
05:11times are among the highest in the country. The major hospitals serving North CornwallâTreliske,
05:17Derriford and North Devonâare crumbling, and we cannot delay or review their new buildings
05:23any longer, or we risk the south-west hospital provision quite literally collapsing. As well
05:29as the crises in our NHS, Cornish schools continue to receive less funding per people
05:34than other areas of the UK, and the crisis in provision for children and young people
05:39with special educational needs and disabilities is extremely alarming. We see raw sewage dumped
05:46into our rivers and world-renowned beaches like Poles F, Harlan and Widmouth Bay, among
05:52many others, on an almost daily basis. The water industry needs urgent reform so that
05:57monopolistic for-profit water companies are forced to finally invest in infrastructure
06:03rather than only prioritising shareholder dividends. Our fishers and farmers continue
06:08to suffer from disastrous trade deals which have left them struggling to compete, while
06:14climate change becomes the most urgent issue of our times and threatens to literally submerge
06:21towns such as Bewd underwater in the coming decades.
06:26Despite these hardships, there is also very much to be hopeful about. I am deeply inspired
06:31by the dedication of our amazing communities and volunteer networks and sports clubs, to
06:36name just a few. Age Concern in Bodmin and the amazing new youth centre in Bodmin, KBSK,
06:42which provides warm meals, homework clubs and a range of activities for young people.
06:47The seapool in Bewd, run by dedicated volunteers to improve the mental wellbeing of local residents.
06:52The Memory Café in Launceston, providing respite for carers and those with memory problems.
06:58The Grace project in Weybridge, providing unwanted clothing to those who need it most.
07:03And the community ladders and food banks in Camelford, St Colin Major and Padsoe.
07:09We also are blessed with many excellent sports clubs in my constituency, including the Weybridge
07:14Camels Rugby Club, the Bodmin Football Club, the Launceston All Blacks Rugby Club and many,
07:22many more. I'm also looking forward to visit the Kilkhampton ladies football team in just
07:28a few weeks' time.
07:31But it's clear to me that the best way to solve many of these problems and the unique
07:36challenges Cornwall faces is for decisions to be taken locally. My constituents, including
07:43many who didn't vote at all, are so fed up with the same broken political system, which
07:49as I've already explained seems to achieve very little for us in Cornwall. That is why,
07:55as well as proper voting and fundamental political reform, I'll be calling for meaningful devolution
08:01of powers, funding and responsibility from Whitehall to a legislative Cornish Assembly.
08:08Cornwall's unique culture, heritage and language were finally recognised in 2014, when Liberal
08:14Democrats made sure the Cornish were granted national minority status under the European
08:19Framework Convention, just like the Scots, Welsh and the Irish. As Liberal Democrats,
08:25we are and we must continue to be the party for Cornwall.
08:30During today's debate, I hope the Minister will also work with me to explore how we
08:35can see a Cornish team competing at the next Commonwealth Games.
08:41I'll finish now with the words of my 15th-century predecessor, Thomas Flemank, who, like me,
08:47had previously been a solicitor and grew up in Bodbin. I hope that's where the similarities
08:52end because he was soon after executed.
08:58Flemank led the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 and famously said,
09:02Speak the truth, and only then can you be free of your chains.
09:07Guided by those words, I will always speak truth to power on behalf of North Cornwall.
09:13Cerno bis fecan, Cornwall forever. Thank you.