I WAS very pleased to visit a number of schools and colleges here in North Cornwall this week, continuing my efforts to ensure young people feel empowered to get involved in politics and make their voices heard.

Over the last few days I’ve stopped by Padstow Primary School, Callywith College, Sir James Smith’s School, and Wadebridge Primary, where I had the chance to speak with pupils about what it means to be an MP and how our democracy works. They asked some brilliant, thoughtful questions and I left feeling hugely inspired, while making sure politics feels accessible and relevant to the next generation.

Alongside this, I’ve also again been encouraging entries to my ‘MP for the Day’ competition, which invites under-18s across North Cornwall to send in a short video explaining what they would do if they were in my shoes for 24 hours. Entries are open until the end of October.

On the national stage, I was proud to speak at Liberal Democrat Conference recently to propose a motion on legal aid. In my speech, I made the case for community-based Law Start Centres that could provide early advice on everything from domestic abuse to housing and debt here in North Cornwall. This is an issue affecting so many in our constituency, and having helped a number of constituents with their cases on access to legal aid, I’ll continue to really push for proper access to justice for all.

I also made an appearance on Politics South West recently, where I repeated my call for urgent infrastructure investment to support Cornwall’s rail links. Since the Dawlish line was washed away in 2014, we have still not seen the resilience or upgrades that our region desperately needs. I again made the point that North Cornwall is still without a single mainline station, which continues to hold our area back. I also spoke on the show about the housing crisis we face here in Cornwall, whereby the proliferation of second homes - and a lack of real affordable housing - is affecting so many of my constituents, especially the younger generation who are being forced to move far away to find somewhere to live.

I was very glad to host another local drop-in at Lanivet’s One For All community centre this week, as these sessions are a great way to raise issues directly with me and I’d encourage anyone nearby to come along and say hello over a cuppa.

I am also proud to announce I’ll be continuing to serve as the Liberal Democrats’ Shadow Attorney General.

Finally, I learned this week that Cornwall councillor Rowland O’Connor has left Reform UK and now sits as an Independent on Cornwall Council. This means that North Cornwall no longer has any Conservative or Reform representation at council level, which I believe reflects a clear political shift locally, with residents choosing practical, community-focused politics over culture wars and division. I look forward to continuing to work constructively with Lib Dem and Independent councillors like Rowland, to deliver on the issues that matter most to our area.