IT was fantastic to celebrate St Piran’s Day in Bodmin, joining the brilliant parade alongside Cornwall councillors Leigh Frost, Dan Rogerson and Chris Batters, and so many residents proudly celebrating Cornwall’s culture and heritage.

The day is always such a wonderful reminder of everything that makes our Duchy so unique. To mark the occasion, I tabled an official Early Day Motion to Parliament, calling for stronger protections for Cornish produce. Following the proposed closure of Sharp’s Brewery in Rock (which I’ve had urgent meetings about this week as it has put around 50 local jobs at risk, and many more across the supply chain) it has never been clearer that we must protect Cornwall’s producers and identity. My motion calls on the Government to ensure that products marketed as ‘Cornish’ are genuinely made here in Cornwall, safeguarding local jobs and supporting our independent food and drink businesses.

This week I also visited residents in Launceston, following the major water outage that left thousands of my constituents without water supply. I spoke directly with affected homeowners and local businesses, many of whom were understandably really frustrated by the lack of information from South West Water. I am particularly concerned about vulnerable and disabled residents who struggled to reach bottled water distribution points. This disruption is completely unacceptable and highlights yet again the need for serious investment in Cornwall’s water infrastructure. I am already raising the issue urgently with South West Water bosses and pressing them to explain exactly what went wrong and how they will prevent this from ever happening again.

I also had a productive visit to Smile Together in Bodmin recently as part of my ongoing campaign to tackle the severe lack of NHS dental access in North Cornwall. We discussed how we can increase the number of NHS check-ups and emergency appointments in areas that are currently struggling the most. Access to dentistry remains one of the biggest issues raised in my constituency surgeries, and has been a huge focus for me as North Cornwall’s MP so far.

Alongside this, I met with the Young Fishermen Network this week in Port Isaac to hear directly about the challenges facing the next generation of fishermen (and women!) along our coastline. They told me about issues such as rising costs, challenges with accessing finance for a vessel, overregulation, and long-term sustainability. I’m now in the process of applying for a parliamentary debate on inshore fishing on their behalf, so that the concerns of our young fishermen here in Cornwall can be properly raised in Westminster and given the consideration they deserve.

Many of you will also have seen the recent release of the Channel 4 documentary Dirty Business, which exposed serious failures by regulators in tackling sewage dumping. Sadly, communities like ours here in North Cornwall have known about this scandalous behaviour for years. I’ll be doing everything I can to continue pressing Ministers, regulators, and South West Water themselves to ensure our rivers and beaches are protected and that those responsible are properly held to account.

Finally, thank you to everyone who joined my latest Brew with Ben event in Morwenstow last week. Next brew (at the time of writing) will be up in Boscastle! These sessions are always a really great opportunity to discuss local issues, hear your concerns directly, and for my team and I to take on casework wherever possible. Please keep an eye on my social media for details of the next event, and until then, take care.