BROWN SHOULD SEE FOR HIMSELF

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th Jun 2007

Cornwall's five Liberal Democrat MPs have today invited the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown to come to Cornwall and see for himself the challenges faced by the County.

On the first day of Mr Brown's new job, Cornwall's MPs have highlighted the poverty and economic hardship that continue to blight the County, especially unaffordable housing and unaffordable water bills. They ask him to make good his pledges to tackle child poverty and housing affordability by cutting water bills and providing more affordable homes.

House prices are continuing to soar to levels unattainable by the average Cornish person or couple. With the average wage only £18,600 (some 25 percent less than the national average), local house prices now average more than twelve times local wages - one of the worst figures anywhere in the UK. Thousands of Cornish people are now unable to get on the housing ladder.

Disproportionately high water bills are also producing 'Water Poverty' in Cornwall, with some of the poorest homes in Britain paying the highest water charges. Government Ministers have acknowledge this is making child poverty worse in Cornwall.

Colin Breed MP for South East Cornwall said:

"It is important for our new Prime Minister, who knows Scotland and the North of England so well, to come and listen to the people of Cornwall. Gordon Brown must respond to the problems and pressures which affect so many families in the County."

Matthew Taylor MP Chair of the Parliamentary Team for Cornwall added:

"Gordon Brown now has the power to put right two of the worst mistakes of the last Conservative Government to hit Cornwall. Water privatisation has led to the lowest-paid community in Britain paying the highest water bills, and council house sales - without replacement building - has left homelessness rocketing as fast as house prices. If he really wants to reach out to all parts of Britain, and to tackle poverty as he says, there is nowhere better to start than here."