The Shelley Tasker Show

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Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7:00p.m. uk time on Radio Soapbox: http://radiosoapbox.com

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Shelley Tasker Show on radiosoapbox.com. Today is Wednesday, 19th June 2024, and we have an exciting episode for you. Our guest this evening is Dave Laity, an independent candidate for the St Ives area in Cornwall. Despite some initial technical difficulties, we managed to get Dave online to share his inspiring journey and vision for the future.

Dave Laity, a former detective, has recently entered the political race as an independent candidate. He shared his experiences and challenges, including his last-minute decision to run and the overwhelming support he has received from his friends and team. Dave's campaign is driven by a desire for change, particularly in addressing the housing crisis and supporting the younger generation.

We discussed the unique needs of the St Ives constituency and the importance of having representatives who live and breathe the local issues. Dave highlighted the struggles of young people in Cornwall, especially in terms of housing affordability and job opportunities. He proposed innovative solutions, such as ring-fencing council tax from holiday homes to subsidize local housing and support the local workforce.

Dave also touched on his extensive career, from working as an analytical scientist to joining the police force and later becoming involved in helping victims of fraud. His diverse background has given him a deep understanding of the community's needs and the systemic issues that need addressing.

We delved into the broader issues affecting Cornwall, including the impact of large corporations and the need for a more balanced distribution of wealth. Dave emphasized the importance of supporting local industries, particularly farming, and ensuring that young people have the opportunity to stay and thrive in their communities.

Throughout the episode, Dave's passion for change and his commitment to listening to the younger generation were evident. He believes that by addressing the housing crisis and supporting local industries, we can create a sustainable and prosperous future for Cornwall.   https://davelaity.org/
Thank you for tuning in to the Shelley Tasker Show. Stay tuned for more insightful discussions and inspiring stories.

[00:00:59] Unknown:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Shelley Tasker Show here coming out of radiosoapbox.com.   It's good to have your company.   Today's date is Wednesday, 19th June 2024.   And, yes, here we are live, and we have a great guest this evening.   That's as long as we can get him   online. For some reason, he can't get his microphone working.   I'm gonna keep trying. Just bear with me   a second.   Dave, can you hear me at all?   Oh, the frustration.   Let's do it again.   Bear with. This is live radio, everybody.   Can you hear me, miss nope. Nope. It's calling back.   Do you know? I think from now on, you should just start the show.  



[00:01:57] Unknown:

Hello. I can hear you now. Lovely to hear. Hooray. Only 1 minute. Thank you.  

[00:02:02] Unknown:

How are you, mister Dave Leite?   I'm very well. Thank you. Lovely to hear from you again. Oh, bless you. You could probably well, actually, I'm not feeling stressed now. Obviously, every week,   somebody has problems with their audio, but it's okay. You're here. So let me just I put you on I put you on my phone instead of my computer, so it's a lot easier. Okay, my lovely. No worries. Well, let me give you a bit of an introduction first.   So, yes, this is Dave Lacey. Dave is an independent candidate for the St Ives area   in Cornwall.  

Dave was once a detective among many other things, and,   we did talk a few years ago when it was COVID times about stuff like. But,   Dave is an independent,   quite last minute. Am I right thinking that, Tafe?  

[00:02:49] Unknown:

Yes.   I had, a bit of trouble getting various   establishments   to play ball with me, and I thought, well,   blow this. I'll do it myself.   And on 7th,   last Friday, 7th, I just suddenly decided that I was gonna go for it, and I entered my name in the in the race   at county hall.   And all of a sudden my team around me, friends, they've all jumped in without being asked, and they're absolutely a fantastic team.   They have just   thrown themselves at it, and we we are doing a lot better than we anticipated.  

[00:03:23] Unknown:

Really? Oh, that is good stuff. And, I mean, I was at Resurgent car boot sale today, and I walked past a stall, and there was your face facing me on a fence post with some flyers and stuff.  

[00:03:33] Unknown:

Oh, I'm sorry about my face then. And as I said earlier, I've got a face for radio, not television.  

[00:03:38] Unknown:

Absolutely not. No. No. Well, it's lovely.   I'm really pleased that you, like, stepped in last minute as well.   I bet it was a bit frantic for a while, and I'm quite happy to be in that Telegram group, but I've had to mute it because you're just all pinging constantly, aren't you? Ideas Correct. Everybody helping. But like you say, everybody has rallied around, and it's just,  

[00:03:58] Unknown:

it's just I haven't had to ask anybody to do anything there. Actually, every morning from April, even earlier onwards, they're just saying is, what can we do today? What can we do here? Where can we go? What   should we do. And, they're they're just a fantastic bunch, really really nice people because they want change. Yeah. They can see and they've got families and their families want change.   And they've all told me they were itching for an independent to put up to get behind it because they're fed up with, the same old rhetoric for year after year no matter which party gets in.  

[00:04:30] Unknown:

Yeah. And I'm not actually seeing on the not that I really watch the main stream, but I see snippets on the newspapers at work and stuff. I haven't seen anything from independents   on there yet, and they don't tend to, like,   push the independents much, do they?  

[00:04:44] Unknown:

I think it might be down to to, funding as well. I think you're quite right. They don't tend to push the independents, but it could be down to funding because everything I do   has to be done,   out of my own pocket or very generous people who've been donating to me, and I've got to thank them publicly for that as well.   There's a limit to what we're allowed to accept on donations, but we've had donations from various people.   The big parties obviously have got funding from from above. And, they've got parties with coffers and and donate very, very generous   benefactors. So they have not really got a problem,   with getting going and getting on the television.  

Whereas   we because we have to fund everything, we have not got a very high profile. So that's why we depend upon   the support that we're getting locally, the local   people who, who see a need for what needs to change in their area, which is,   again, one of the reasons for being independent. If you're in the area, live live and breathe it every day, and meet with the people, you've got a much better chance of knowing what they want rather than,   from afar.  

[00:05:49] Unknown:

Definitely. Definitely. I only wish we had an independent for my constituency, but   we haven't. So,   yeah, never mind. So that leaves me then with a question. Well, do I go for the next best thing? Do we go reform? Who knows? Who knows? But, anyway, before we blabber on to, like, the manifestos and stuff like that, can you just give the audience, a little bit of a chat just what you're about, what you've you know, bit about your life story, Dave,  

[00:06:15] Unknown:

so they get a bit of a feeling about you and what you're about. My life my life story. Well, it's it's 5 minutes. It's rather a lot to go through, but I'll do a crazy one. I mean, I was at grammar school in Penthouse. I was born and bred in Merazim. My parents had Will Rodney Caravan site and and leisure center,   and I was brought up there.   I   had a couple of jobs as a analytical scientist when I left grammar school in Penzance.   I did work for a while at South Crofty mine.   I worked in load of local photographic laboratory for a short time, but that sort of got me into the scientific and analytical   world.  

I then studied at Brunel for medicine and I became a medical laboratory scientific officer for want of a better title.   Basically, a biochemist working in Penzance Hospital for 4 years, where we would take blood and analyze it for the doctors to make a diagnosis.   I don't know what happened, I got bored with that, I think.   It was it was a question of   routine stuff, but also   there wasn't a lot of prospects for promotion, so   I left and joined the police force, and I was a community constable   all over Cornwall,   mainly Redruth Campbell, and I was 7 years in hail as a community officer.  

I did some in Penzance. I've done a bit in Halston,   Saint Ives, and then I went on to CID and worked from CID office in Saint Ives, and then eventually into Penzance.   And during that career, I've worked all over Cornwall with the drug squad, with   child protection units on attachments,   even the traffic unit. So it's been a very, very mixed career,   but it's given me the experience to see an insight into various walks of life within our local community. And   I must say, what has come out of that is that   this particular constituency down here is even different to some parts of Cornwall. It's very unique. It's got unique   businesses. It's got unique needs,   and that was one of the factors I thought of when I put up as an independent, because   people who are not living in the community can't see what is needed as much. They think they can, but they don't live it, breathe it, so they don't experience it.  

It's only people that are actually in the community know what's best for that particular area.   Since I left the police, I got involved in helping some other people who were victims of fraud,   and I did a build myself and became a victim of, should we say banking fraud,   whereby my signature appeared on documents that I hadn't signed.   Say say no more. Right.   It got very serious,   and I took my case   further. And since then, for the last 7 years, I've been battling   all the establishment   from the Serious Fraud Office through to the Financial Conduct Authority and even parliament, but,   nobody seems to be listening, and I'm not the only one who suffered in this way.  

I've been doing a massive amount of work with   victims of serious, very serious   crimes,   and it seems that we come up against a brick wall. Nobody's listening, or there's no funds, or for whatever reason,   the biggest thing we've come across is what I would call blind eye dishonesty, where they'd rather not look at it Yeah. For fear of uncovering something. And a classic case of that is the recent   Bates versus post office.   That's been going on for many, many years behind the scenes.   And,   I got to the point   literally last fry well, Friday 7th,   where I had enough of not being listened to.  

I had some serious evidence,   because my my,   level of, should we say, onus of proof is beyond all reasonable doubt. It's not the civil courts where it's on the balance of probabilities. I'm   still firmly in the criminal court system where I'm I've got to prove something beyond all reasonable doubt.   And I've got hard evidence of that on many cases, but I just couldn't get anybody to listen.   So I thought, well,   these people are suffering badly,   just like   various   echelons of our community down here, and somebody's got to do something about it. You can't just ignore it. So I decided, right, this is it. Enough's enough. Here's my chance. Otherwise, there's no there's no point waiting another 4 or 5 years.   Some, a lot of people said, what are they gonna do about it? Well, there's not a magic they.  

Sometimes you just gotta step up to it, and,  

[00:10:51] Unknown:

as you say, every journey starts with the first step. Absolutely. I was thrilled when I heard that you were standing. I was like, hooray. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Quite a few, like, local   kind of people   in our sort of, like, movement   that are standing all over the country.   So,   next week I mean, last week, I interviewed Debbie Hicks and   Mark Costello, I think it was. They're running for Swindon North and South, but Uh-huh. All ideas from the independents seem to be very similar, what I'm hearing.   But next next week,   I'm gonna be talking to farmer Pete.  

So, you know, I'm sorry, listeners, but it is it is that time, and we've got to get our independent voices out there. So, yeah, great to have you. So Pharmapete is very kindly offered to liaise with me. He's well into the farming industry, obviously. Yeah. And it's particularly the farmers I'm looking to support  

[00:11:47] Unknown:

among others,   and and more particularly the young farmers and the young   workers within our community, the the youth of our community.   And I think I I just put something somebody asked me for a little bit of text about what I was looking for.   And,   I've got   my wife and I've got grown up children. I've actually got 4 grown up   girls, ladies, and 4 grown up boys, men.   So I've got 8 in all, and 2 of them have had to leave the region   because they just cannot afford to survive here.   So   it's firsthand   experience on what's needed here,   and,   I thought the youth,   especially farmers, but not just farmers, the youth are our future. They're our workforce for everything, including the holiday industry and the fishing and that's why we're unique here. We've got so many industries all in one little place.  

And,   what happens when they all leave? That's what the problem is. So I thought, well, that needs to be a priority.   And I'm looking to I'm looking to make touch base with young farmers clubs. I've joined a couple of groups of young farmers,   and youth groups as well, and I would like to actually go and listen to what they've got to say, not tell them what we're gonna do.   Ask them what they need us to do. It's it's what I've been finding where I've been talking to people in the constituency.  

[00:13:12] Unknown:

Yeah. I mean, my daughter's 26 7, and she was hoping to say last week, do you know, I actually fancy moving away? Yeah. The the money's rubbish,   and, you know, they're all working their socks off, and they're just not getting anywhere. And for first time buyers,   there's just not a hope in how, I don't think, unless you, like, got a really, really good job or someone leaves you some money.  

[00:13:35] Unknown:

Well, it's funny you should say that because it seems to be the root of every problem down here, the the housing. Everything branches off from that. There's house the wages problem and all. But if you sort out the housing problem,   then I think everything else would be a lot easier to sort out. It's not gonna be diff it's not gonna be easy, but it's gonna be easier.   I mean, the main thing that you need is a roof over your head. And once that's sorted,   I mean, you can then build on that and move forward. But that seems to be, wherever I look in whatever area I look,   it seems to be that there's a housing   issue. Now you quite rightly said about getting on the ladder,   and I think it's one of those things that   it's like those things that we know what's going on, but do we really know? And you think, oh, yeah. I know about that. I know about that. And I was guilty of that because I said   when when I was out talking to some youth in,   when I when I say youth, first of all, I'm talking about the age group of 18 to 40 now, because   18 to 30, you you can't buy a house before 30, so the younger generation now has to be extended to 40   as first time buyers, in my opinion. So I'm talking about the 18 to 40 age group in particular,   not solely, but in particular. And whilst talking to them in   Helston   and Penzance recently,   specifically, they're actually stopping them and asking them.  

The same thing came out, and it was the fact that they want to stay here, but they're being forced to move. They have no choice,   but they all want to settle here.   And a lot of the theme was   nobody will give me a mortgage, yet I can afford the rent, which is 2 or 300 times the price of the mortgage. 2 or £300   more than the mortgage, I mean. So   I thought it's something we all know, and we know there's a housing problem. But has anybody done the maths? So   I came home and did the maths.   I learned this at the hustings last week where,   1 or 2 of the other guys in who who are long in the tooth on this have really they've done this for years,   as MPs. They were able to   quote certain things, and I I felt like I could challenge them, but I didn't have the evidence that, as an ex policeman, I would require to take take up the challenge,   if you see what I mean, to to actually question it. Yeah. So I came away and I did a bit of research, and when I spoke to these to these youngsters and   and 20 and 30 somethings   all over the constituency in the last  

[00:16:10] Unknown:

Oh, you've pressed a button. You're on hold.   I bet someone's ringing you, and that thing's left on your phone. Sorry. I've put it.   Are you back? Oh, okay. Call ended.   Midflow as well.   Hello again?   Hello again. Did you did did somebody just try calling you on your phone, and you've got that finger sent to decline?  

[00:16:35] Unknown:

My phone had a funny 5 minutes.  

[00:16:38] Unknown:

I always get confused when it flashes up on an iPhone, accept and decline, or what have you, and I always press the wrong button. Anyway, you were in full flow there. So you, you've got this theory.  

[00:16:48] Unknown:

So yeah. Sorry. Yes. What what I what I was saying was, I I I got all this information from these people. And,   and first of all, what I would like to say say is every everybody says, oh, the youngsters don't know what's going on. They haven't got a clue. They have no attention span. I think that's insulting. I think everyone I've spoken to, they know what's going on. They know exactly what's going on. And what's what surprised me is they've actually got the answers. They've got some really good answers, but the theme was nobody's listening to us. So I decided to listen. So I've come away and I've done a bit of research, and   there are lots of schemes. There's   affordable housing. Well, the word affordable is a misnomer because it's not affordable.  

I I don't like using that word, but there are schemes   for house purchase.   And   the   the legislation or or the the rules say that it could be 50 to sometimes 80% discount, but mostly, we're looking at 50% discount.   Now on the private market, you're not gonna get anyone to discount their property by 50%,   but the public sector can produce houses and sell them for 50%.   So I decided to look into the the reality of that, because it sounds quite attractive.   But the reality is,   I did some examples off the Internet and the Office of National Statistics, etcetera, etcetera.   And   let's let's start by saying,   if you had a £300,000   house, which is the average for Cornwall,   generally for Cornwall,   and you've got a 50% house price discount, you're looking to purchase at a 150,000.  

That requires a deposit of 10%   minimum,   which is £15,000   and the loan amount, a 135,000.   To get that, you're looking at £700,   nearly £800   a month at 5% over 25 years.   Now   that's if you can get a house at half price, so I thought let's look into that.   And there are key schemes and initiatives   and   surprisingly, a lot of them for are for the over sixties.  

[00:18:59] Unknown:

Oh, right.  

[00:19:01] Unknown:

Okay. That didn't ever come onto my radar until recently.   There's there's schemes like,   the over sixties helped to buy southwest   and   various retirement over sixties housing and all. And it seems to be we're   discounting prices to encourage people to retire down here. Now I think if you've if you're sixties and you haven't bought your house by then,   I don't know that,   a priority   should be to retire to an area that's deprived of housing   with assistance.   So then I looked at the facts and figures for,   for the Synagis constituency, and the average house price there is   just shy of 500,000.  

So if you had that discounted   at 250,000,   if you had it discounted   as a first time buyer,   I took some figures to to see what you would need,   as a reasonable oh, yes. There we are.   With   that, you would need something in the region of 12   £85   a month,   and that's not counting your bills and everything else.   I did calculate it, and I I will find my calculations for you. But what I was finding is,   the the the one scheme that I was looking favorably for was the   half buy and half   rent.   Okay. So so that scheme is the let's take 50% as a general average.   If you've got a £300,000   house a Cornwall average price,   so you buy half of it and rent the other half.  

The problem with that is you've got a mortgage and a rent to pay.   Obviously, there are variations on this. So I just took a I took the took the average, took the very, very middle middle ground on this.   And when you look at the mortgage required,   on a £300,000   house, you'd be looking at £156.   But if you did the half and half,   you're looking at   £1300   for, size. £800ish,   around about,   near rounded number. £800   for a mortgage, and then another £700   for the rent. So you're only a couple of £100 short as if you had a mortgage for the entire place, and you're only buying half of it at a time. I mean, that's a simplistic view,   but that's basically what we're looking at. It's much more expensive in the long run to buy and rent. And now I know that system has helped a lot of people get on the ladder,   but it's still crippling them.  

To buy the average case here outright down here,   you're gonna need in the mid to high thirties for your deposit and your   and your fees all told, and your lawyer fees and everything else,   and a minimum income of 49a   half   £1,000 to service a mortgage for that amount of money.   It's just not possible.   It's not. It's not possible for for the likes of you and I probably, let alone the youngsters who are on minimum wage and seasonal work. As well if if there's 2 of you for that mortgage. Isn't that? So Yes. Yeah. 20.   So Yes. Yeah. 20 grand, 25 grand each. It's still 25 grand per person.  

That's what you're looking at. £25,000   per person annual income. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of families down here that aren't on that even. So   so what would be the answer? Answer? So, there's a lot more figures. I've done it I've done it on different house prices. So so what I've just quoted to you is just the middle of the road,   very generalistic,   but it just gives you an idea of how unreachable   properties are for the workforce down here.   And I foresaw last week I I I foresaw this coming. Last week,   Italy was offering houses for sale for €1   to get youths back into the area, to get the workforce back,   provided they spent €30,000   on their properties. Now if we sold a house here for 1 year, I'm sure that the youngsters would get 30,000 from somewhere to do it up to own a house.  

I'm not saying that's that's possible here, but what I'm saying in comparison is that   the Italian   happened in Greece, in Italy, in Bulgaria,   whereby   there was a mass migration to the cities because there was no work and no wages and no no hope for anybody   in the rural areas.   Now   Cornwall is ostensibly a tourist area now with many many   very expensive properties. Now you need an infrastructure   to service those, and that infrastructure is by the workforce that's in lives in the area, that lives here 247   all year round.   And it's not just cleaning and maintaining and maintaining houses. It's the other infrastructure. It's the roads. It's the   the off the restaurants, the shops, and everything that need to support a holiday   And what occurred to me is there's not a balance. It's all out of balance. The money is all one-sided,   and the youngsters   are struggling on the other end of that balance, and it's then it's getting to be   a tipping point where,   in my opinion,   we're gonna end up with many, many very posh expensive houses, but nobody to look after them, or or make it a nice place for people to come and have holiday.  

So that's   the that's the,   problem as I see it. I know everybody knows this, but when you actually analyze it with figures, you can actually see how serious that problem is and how little help there is   for,   first time buyers.   So I looked at making a solution.  

[00:24:58] Unknown:

So tell me more.  

[00:25:03] Unknown:

As you say, I came to this   very, very   late,   and I'm thinking on my feet 247. I'd had 10 days this from from 0 to doing 2 hustings,   completing a manifesto,   getting leaflets and posters and flyers and everything else sorted.   So, I'm still looking at solutions, but I am a problem solver.   And one suggestion,   and it was just talking to the youngsters that came up,   how about   I mean we have we have to look at the mechanics of this, but how about   the council tax alone from all the holiday lets and business lets? The holiday the the holiday homes that are businesses and the holiday homes,   the council tax. I'm not advocating paying charging them anymore,   and I'm not advocating   stopping and buying them because it's a free world. But if the council tax for those properties was ring fenced in a fund to subsidize local housing,   to keep the young people in the area, to supply the infrastructure,   to service those houses,   would that not be a good,   for want of a better word, money go round, keeping the money in the county, keeping the workforce in the county, keeping the people here where they want to be if they want to be, and still managing   to maintain the tourist industry   without breaking the bank.  



[00:26:25] Unknown:

Yeah. That that's a brilliant idea.   But would the council go for that?  

[00:26:32] Unknown:

There's a band of contention with me. The council are public servants. You pay their wages, and you tell them what you want.   Somebody once said to me, I think it was only last week, again in Houston, somebody said, oh well   if you become an MP   you'll get paid by the government. So the government doesn't have any money, it's your money, you, I work for you. If I was   very fortunate enough to actually   stand as your MP, it's you who pay who would be paying me and paying me to do what I'm told,   and I would be making a very loud voice in Westminster about that.   I   you've known me before, and I'm not one to count down to being bullied by other people. So,   I listen to   the   pub populace,   the the constituents.  

I take on board what they say, and as you see, I go home and I do some a little bit of homework on each issue they bring up and see if I can suggest a problem. Now I'm not saying I'm gonna be right, and I'm not saying that would work. What I'm saying is it does need further examination by people cleverer than me who could do the maths,   who know how much is how much income comes from those properties, and how much we could spend on houses.   Certainly, I know that,   I've built 3 or 4 houses and renovated some of my time myself,   and   it's changed recently, but in the old days it was a third a third and a third. The third paid for the plot, the third paid for the house build, and the third was the profit.  

So if you knock the profit third off of a £300,000   house, you're bringing it down to 200,000,   and it's just about within the reach. And if you could get jobs   rolling,   and that system would obviously create more jobs,   because there would be more demand,   for the infrastructure to grow, and and it would literally be a self generating,   self   regular, self,   maintaining system.   Somebody else cleverer than me is probably gonna shoot me down in flames and find a pitfall with that, but at the moment, as far as I'm concerned, it seems a sensible option, and it and for the benefit   of the, first time buyers and the people who want to live in this area who've been born and bred here, I think we should be looking into something like that.  



[00:28:48] Unknown:

Yeah. So I'm just trying to get get this clear in my head. So, like, all of the holiday   homes, let's just say in survives, it's probably a amble of 11 as an example.   I don't know what percentage, but it's a massive percentage that they are holiday less, and they're empty for, I don't know, half the year or more. So they pay the owner the owners will pay their council tax on those properties,   and that will all go in a pot   to help fund  

[00:29:15] Unknown:

other important First time buyers' housing. Buyers.   And the other thing that came up at the, at the Hastings was that we need to be   more, more energy efficient,   and   the houses that are being built could be energy efficient in in the same vein,   because there's not so much of a profit having to be made by corporate entities that have to pay their shareholders.   These could be built by the local workforce yet again. So it would employ people to build houses   for people to live in that they could afford,   and they could be   economic with their utilities as well.  

I mean,   there's so many benefits for exploring this.   You know, there's going there's going to be pitfalls, and there's gonna be difficulties.   But, hey, if it was easy, everybody'd be doing it, wouldn't they? Yeah.  

[00:30:05] Unknown:

Excuse me. Yeah. You gotta start somewhere.   Exactly. And I think one of the other problems well, the problem with the housing thing is as well is that we're just there's too many   people coming into Cornwall now,   which obviously there aren't enough services for, enough houses for.   I've got a friend living she's been living in a mobile home now for a year because that's where the council   have found her a place to live with her 4 children under 8 years old. She must be going absolutely nuts, you know, just dying for a house. And the whole system to get a house, they have to bid every week.   Go online. And if, even if you don't want a even if it's, like, nowhere in your area, you have to put a bid on. Otherwise, you're, like, kicked out of the game.  



[00:30:49] Unknown:

So I mean I do. Yeah. Yeah. She could potentially Well, that was once that was what surprised me about help to buy at 50% discount for an over sixties who want to retire here. Yeah. I mean,   I'm not saying that shouldn't happen, but it seems to be,   on the face of it, encouraging people to come and retire down here. That's all well and good. But if there's not the infrastructure to support them, as you just pointed out,   what's gonna happen ultimately? They're gonna it's gonna get worse and worse. What we need   is the locals to have   a better quality of life, a better ability,   to earn a wage and and work here, if they so wish, and don't want to have to be pushed away.  

And this system would do it. I'm sure this would do it. And then people could come,   it would it would be a like I said, a self maintaining system to a point. It would often has obviously, have to be regulated so that we didn't have a mass,   influx.   But   I think priority should be   to the   younger generation,   first of all, and to support them in any way we can   so that they stay here and have a quality of life here that is not just peddling hard to go backwards.   People say, oh, the youngsters are lazy, this, that, and the other. What a load of rubbish. What I've found is they've been demoralized because nobody's helping them and nobody's listening to them. But when you actually talk to them,   they know what they want. There's some damn hard workers there, but they're peddling hard and going backwards, and that in 2024   is ludicrous.  

We've never been taxed more than than in history than we are now.   Where the hell is all the money going? Where?   What's gone wrong? Where is our money?  

[00:32:36] Unknown:

Well, they've got greedier and greedier, haven't they, those at the top? And it it seems to me like they're, like, playing it on purpose just to get the little small people to not be able to afford anything and probably the agenda 2030 plan of getting people in their little tiny houses.  

[00:32:53] Unknown:

You know? Well, they got their 30 minute cities. Whether whether you're an advocate of that plan or not,   it seems to be that wealth is very, very quickly being transferred from those people who create it with their sweat equity,   the younger generation working their hell out all day long,   and that seems to be transferred up and up the tree, and we have a massive wealth transfer going on where the people at the top with money can make more money.   Yeah.   I I feel that shareholders are taking far too big a slice of the cake in every walk of life.   I mean, the the the, the southwest water was brought up at the hustings for one example of a and and this this is not just picking on them. It was given as an example by one of the other,   candidates,   and,   who knew a lot more about it than I did until I went away and researched it again.  

And, it would appear that   there was there was a claim that Southwest Water had invested £44,000,000   in the infrastructure down here. Yet despite that, 60,000   event events of sewage overflows took place.   Now when I looked at that 44,000,000, that's a lot of money invested in a project.   But in that same period of time, over   a 140,000,000   went to the shareholders of the private limited company, which is a foreign registered company   that owns that company, Southwest Water. And then that company is owned by a parent company. When you look at the shareholding in that company,   that year, they had something in the mid   170,000,000   if I   if I remember correctly.  

So   there's   there's many times the amount of   money   going into shareholders' pockets for sitting because they've got money to invest in a share,   sitting there waiting and doing nothing. And and that oh, yeah. But they should have a return on their investment,   but it's out of balance.   It's the same as I said with the housing. Everything's out of balance. It's tipped too far one way. And at the moment, the shareholders   of all these companies   are taking far too much and investing far too little.   We have the technology now. I mean, when I was at school, I was told that we could work 3 days a week by the year 2000,   and everything would be nice and hunky dory, and we it it would be great fun.  



[00:35:14] Unknown:

Now people are working 2 jobs, and they're not even managing to buy a house to live in. No. And with what were the times? It should be getting easier, shouldn't it? You would think that since, like, the beginning of civilization working for? Civilization and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I spoke to some young professionals only in the last couple of days.  

[00:35:32] Unknown:

1 young one young lady,   has has managed to save enough for a deposit of a house, believe it or not.   She looked at buying a house that was discounted and thought, well, that's a lot of money, 250 1,000, but I can just about manage it.   When she applied, it was reserved for the over sixties discount.   Now   she now is move   is,   thinking very strongly that she will have to move   within   very short period of time, and she's   a senior professional. She's not just she she's she's not just,   you know, starting out your work. She's held some senior positions, but she will have to leave the county and probably move to 2 or 300 miles away to get any work that she gives her any hope of having a house.   So then I spoke to a young accountant who's also saved more than enough for a deposit,   and he's an accountant. And I said,   are you able to buy a house? And he laughed at me. He said, you must be joking. I haven't got a hope in hell.  

Yeah.   So that's the reality of it. We can talk about affordable   housing and and,   you know, spending this on the infrastructure and spending that on the infrastructure.   It's all talk. I like to see the figures, and when I look at the figures, they don't add up. It's all going out of county. The money's going   to the fat cats, the rich people,   in masses and leaving us with the dregs to make do. And it's not necessary   if we had a better balance.   We could take a lot of that money and balance it better. I'm not I'm I'm not   worried about businesses making a profit. Otherwise, they wouldn't work. They need to make a profit. But some of them are making obscene obscene amounts of profit. Yeah. And those those profits are at the expense   of us locals.  



[00:37:23] Unknown:

And it's within every industry, really, isn't it? Like the huge supermarket   chains.  

[00:37:29] Unknown:

Ugh. Yeah. Wherever I look. Yeah. Wherever I look. And when when there's a bit of a fiddle on, I see blind eye dishonesty, which by which I mean, look the other way instead of sorting out the issue. When I see problems that could be sorted out, it's not my job, mate, you know.   And it's time somebody said, it damn well is your job.   There is a solution,   do it, and this is where we need to be. But there's too many,   I think there's too many connected people   who benefit in one way or another from things   that stop,   a clear pathway to solving these problems, which would be a logical problem solver's way of doing it.  



[00:38:11] Unknown:

Right.   Yeah. I oh, gosh. What what a subject, isn't it? And, I mean, I don't envy you. Like, I'm I'm really chuffed for you going for it, and you've gotta, like, know your stuff. And I'd really admire your fight and, like, you are the right person. You've got the experience and things like this, and this was obviously meant to be.   So,   but, like,   after, say, housing, what what to you is, like, the next most important thing?  

[00:38:37] Unknown:

Well, the housing would help the people stay here and keep jobs, and the housing would create jobs. So I think jobs   and,   for for the young workforce, again, I think I think really,   I think really that is a major thing. And when I say jobs, I mean all the industries. We need to support the local industries.   I mean, in particular, the farmers are having a hell of a time of it, and they need support. They've had their grants eroded away. They've had   adverse weather,   all sorts of problems, and then the price of   feed and the price of seed and fertilizer has gone through the roof,   yet the crop prices that they're they're selling is going down. Now,   for instance, I think last year, if,   again, somebody's probably gonna pull me up on it, but in general terms, fertilizer went up by 3 times or more last year. Where is the difference in price going? It's the same again. It's the   it's the shareholders are getting a bigger profit. The companies are getting a bigger profit,   but their   the the farmers are not actually benefiting from it. No. And because they put their prices up so much, these farmers are tied into contracts and stuff, aren't they? So even though they're making an offer contracts. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's funny you should say that because I spoke to a young contractor.  

And, when I say young, because I'm because I'm getting on a bit.   I'm talking about a 30 year old ish. Right?   And I met him at an event   only last Sunday, and,   I thought what a sensible sensible guy, but he's he's between a rock and a hard place because   he is a contractor for a big firm. He's a he's a freelance freelancer, and he contracts with a big firm. And the big firm win the contracts, and they're not being put out to tender. They're just massive contracts, so they can write blank checks in in in other words.   What he said was, he gets £25   an hour,   and I think I think he said fuel money to get to work, but he gets £25   an hour. And he says he's got a little old lady down the road, little missus Smith down the road who wants a cupboard built, and she's expecting to pay the annual the the average rate of the area, £10, £12 an hour.  

She can't afford £25 an hour, so he says, with the best will in the world, he would love to help her, but he's gotta pedal hard, and he has to take the £25 contract.   That money then is passed on to the consumer.   So it indicates to me that   the the companies, the big corporations, are setting what profit margin they want first,   and then providing the service second.   Now call me old fashioned, but if you run a business in the old days,   you supplied a good service, you'd make a fair profit. If you supplied an exceptional service, you make a better profit, and it's all about the profit comes after you provided the good service, but that seems to have gone completely upside down now, where the profit is the thing that's negotiated   first,   and the payment is the last thing in consideration.  

So we're left then with missus Smith down the road wanting her coverage bill. Can't have them built   because the big boys have come in and snuggled up all the work,   at £25   an hour to get the job done to make massive profits.  

[00:41:58] Unknown:

Yeah. I see I see where you're coming from.   It's Yeah. Yeah. It's a nightmare, really. And I mean, the thing is, I think It seems We know that the council, Cornwall County Council,   have got a lot, not just Cornwall County Council, but all of the councils. They've got a lot to answer for because   they are trading for profit.   They are a company.  

[00:42:16] Unknown:

Well, one of one of the yeah.   There's   that's a bone of contention when you just touched the nerve there, because I've been looking at many   many county councils.   And, let's not name mine. We'll just say one in particular has 8 limited companies  

[00:42:31] Unknown:

working for it. Talking about. Yes.  

[00:42:33] Unknown:

And then of those 8 limited companies, it says on company's house that they are local authority without a company number. So they're under the umbrella of a master company.   Now I had a look at that as well, and they're exempt from audit.  

[00:42:46] Unknown:

Oh, wow.  

[00:42:48] Unknown:

And if you go on Companies House, there are several,   I mean, several, I think 4 I may be wrong, it may be 5, but I'll I'll go for   4, that   were having a compulsory wind up by the company's house and just dodged it by the skin of their teeth, and and the wind up was stopped.   I found that. And then when I looked at the accounts,   they don't have to prove any accounts because they're all trading as dormant companies.   Now how can you trade   if you're declared as a dormant company?   There's something very amiss.   Now this is a loophole, and I'm not saying it's illegal. And what I'm saying is it's immoral. It's not illegal.  

It is there, and it is being abused.   What I'm saying is that companies' house rules have to be tightened. I know they've tightened them recently,   but they're not tight enough. So you can register  

[00:43:46] Unknown:

And another  

[00:43:47] Unknown:

And another thing I noticed in some of these companies I investigated,   their net worth were in the fifties and 60,000,000,   yet they were trading as a small company on company sales. And the definition of a small company in the companies act is trading up to 10,000,000.   So   there's something rather amiss with the record keeping here as well. And again, I say,   looking the other way is no longer an option in this world. We are wise to it. The information's there, and they treat the public like   they're stupid or won't understand or, oh, yes. They understand. They know. That's why they're angry. That's why they want change.  

[00:44:30] Unknown:

It's, it's massive, isn't it? And I mean, the thing is Massive. Yeah. Massive.   I know quite a few people who are not going to vote.   And   before all of this was coming, the, election, I was really like, yeah. I'm not gonna vote. I'm not gonna vote because I see other things as well. And there there is a quite a large part of me that thinks   it doesn't make a difference.   But then the other hand,  

[00:44:54] Unknown:

you just never know, do you? And You just never know. That's right. You never know. I think this tactical voting is a big, big mistake because,   I tried to tried to analyze it and put it in simplistic terms. If you're   if you're the red party or the blue party, you've got your hardcore voters who are never gonna change, and it's a battle between red and blue, basically, and a bit of yellow in the middle.   Now tactical voters seem to be chucking their vote on the yellow   to stop the blue getting in. Yeah.   But that is favoring the red. If you dump your vote on just dump your vote or don't vote,   what you are doing is you're ensuring,   absolutely ensuring, that the red will get in or possibly the blue,   Because you are   not giving anybody else a chance. And I would I would,   hope that anybody thinking of either dumping their vote or not voting would actually go and find an independent,   because it's the independent people in in your area that are gonna fight for you and your cause without having to do what they're told from above, from somebody 250 miles away who's never damn well been here. So what what would you say to me then, Dave? Like, there's there's not one independent  

[00:46:06] Unknown:

for my constituency.  

[00:46:09] Unknown:

There's there is or there isn't? There isn't.   Which is your constituency?  

[00:46:13] Unknown:

Cambourne.   I thought there was one for Cambourne. Oh. I've had a look, and I can't see anyone. The closest we've got, I think, is   Reform. That's anything, you know, apart from your usual red and blue.  

[00:46:27] Unknown:

Yeah. Well, I don't.   My personal opinion on reform is that the leader of reform would just assume change parties as as not. That's what it appears to me.   Somebody who comes and goes as often as that. I don't I'm  

[00:46:43] Unknown:

I'm not sure. I mean, if there was an independent  

[00:46:45] Unknown:

trust in my opinion.  

[00:46:47] Unknown:

Definitely vote for an independent.   Yes. But then would it be better off going for someone  

[00:46:54] Unknown:

like reform or just spoiling your ballot papers? People say that's making but is that Yeah. There's a lot of people suggesting just write none of the above on your ballot paper, but   and and and there's a miss misconception there that those will be counted and it will be oh, it'll be a horror story if everybody writes and despoils their ballot paper, and it will be noticed. It won't. It'll just go in the bin. They'll just put a figure against the spoilt ballot papers, and that's it. It'll be how many will spoil that many. Nobody will baton eyelid at it because the big parties   do not care about that. What they care about is getting votes   and or   somebody else not getting votes. You see that it's not the number of votes you get, the number of votes your opposition doesn't get as well. So they're quite happy for you to dump your vote. They will be very happy if you're not gonna vote for them, for you to dump it on somebody else rather than vote for their biggest opposition.  

Yeah. Yeah.   So I think it needs a it's it's a personal choice, but I think it needs a lot of thought before you think about spoiling your ballot paper   and voting.   Up up until now, I've always said, it's like the turkeys, they got a vote for Christmas or Thanksgiving. It's one or the other, and both of them get your cut throat cut for either one. It's just one comes sooner than the other. And that's felt that's what it's felt like for for scores of years, because   we've had party changes back and forth, and then the the Donald Trump is one now and again and back and forth again.   Has anything changed? No. Has anything got better? No. Has it got worse? Damn right it's got worse. So what   I think it was Einstein who said the definition   yeah. It was it was Einstein who said that repeating the same operation over and over again and expecting a different result is madness. It's   insanity. Well, it is. If you think you're gonna get a change by voting for the same people over and over again,   we've tried that. We've proven that doesn't work,   and we've proven that their promises never come come true.  

How we, as independents,   would go ahead   and do something,   That is another problem, because   they it   let let's just suppose the independents had a landslide victory. Who would be prime minister? Who would take it up?   That becomes a problem. It's not impossible, but it is a problem. And I've even asked that question in the last week.   I I would I would suggest that the only way out of that is to do an alliance, where everybody is independently   representing their party their their constituencies.   They don't form a party, but they form an alliance with each other, where they agree on certain national things,   and rule on local things as a separate issue.  

Obviously, that would need work as well, but it's it's not impossible. I mean, who invented this system anyway? I mean, it's time for a change. It doesn't work. We've proven it. It does not work. It's not working. It doesn't. And as much as I appreciate and support what everybody's doing, I'm also in the minds that,  

[00:49:49] Unknown:

if you get to the top I don't know if you've happened to hear that radio clip from an interview with,   Liz Truss   and   she was basically   saying that it didn't matter what she she did. It was down to the banking system.  

[00:50:04] Unknown:

There you go.   Follow the money. Follow the money. Yeah. So, I mean, there's a lot more to have. They're the ones that I'm after in the first in in For 33 days.  

[00:50:12] Unknown:

Yeah. Yep. But then if you know, but not obviously, that interview wasn't shown anywhere, but she answers the vital questions that When you get to the top, you still can't do anything,   or you'll be killed off.  

[00:50:25] Unknown:

Well, we can change that. We can change that. If we if there's enough of us. There's more people than there are people governing. It's if everybody stands together and stands out, they don't stand a chance.   And why is the system   why are they fighting so hard to maintain the system as it is?   Because it benefits them. If it did if it didn't benefit them, why would they be fighting so hard to keep it? This is the thing.   So we've got to look at what's behind the scenes. We've got to look at who's benefiting. We gotta look at who's in control,   and, unfortunately,   I've had dealings with this parliamentary level. I've been to   I've been to parliament. I will I'll make no secret about this. I have been to parliament   umpteen times,   as a giving evidence,   as a nuisance, as a thorn in their side, and I have got some very, very powerful allies there who are   seeing the system, but they don't speak up because they will lose their pensions and all. So this is an element of,   fear involved right at the top.  

But what I will say is that at a formal meeting,   at a formal parliamentary meeting, an RMP and a load of other MPs were in the room, and it's a matter of record, that the chairman stated   that   a certain bank in this country had criminally defrauded the public and small and medium enterprises of £100,000,000,000.   And when everybody gasped and looked at him, he said, and what's more, we are aware. So that's the government, we, they are the all party parliamentary group. We are aware that the banks together have criminally defrauded the public of £1,200,000,000,000.   Now   I'm just telling you what was   the quote of a chairman   of an all party party parliamentary group investigating   banking fraud.  

I was there, MPs were there.   Now at that level,   we can you expect something to be done about it? Well, no. 5 years on, nothing's been done.   No.   It's shocking. And,   dear Andrew Bridgeman, he's been fighting for post   office people for the last 16 years, as far as I know, and now it's come out because it's the public have become aware, and the public has said, that's enough.   And, oh, look. There's an example where the public can stand up   and get what the public deserve, not what they're told, and they can actually fight back. And because of Alan Bates,   the post office situation has been sorted out. But I have an official   in government investigating bank fraud telling me and other   MPs   that simply   the bank frauds are basically 1200   times the magnitude of the post office fraud.  

Yeah. That gets into some magnitude   and some some semblance of what's going on.   So   follow the money, the money's in control,   and the money keeps control. We need to stop this, and we need to stop it now.  

[00:53:31] Unknown:

So it's it realistically, it's the banking system that we need to change.  

[00:53:38] Unknown:

Well, first of all, we need to keep cash because if we lose cash, we're done for. We're toast. They'll have total nothing for us. Central banking system.   Thing. Yeah. Control interest and stuff like that. Amiye Rothschild in the 1700 said, never mind you governing the country. Give me control of the country's money, and I'll rule the world,   basically.   And that's what's happening. It's finance. And again, it comes back to what we started with with   with the   shareholders and the shareholders   profits.   The shareholder profits, it's sucking the money and the lifeblood of communities   for profit.  

And how much does anyone need for the rest of lives? They can't take it with them. I mean, you could become a millionaire, then a billionaire, then you want more 1,000,000,000.   Why? For what purpose?   It's it's it's just ridiculous   when you sit back and look at it. That money should be more distributed.   I've not got anything against millionaires and billionaires, but when you get to that level, why keep going? Going   back? Yeah. Just pure greed. Pure greed. It's pure greed. Yeah.  

[00:54:41] Unknown:

Well, we just got a few minutes left, Dave. Is there anything Oh, right. That was I know. It it always goes quick, doesn't it? But it's been fascinating. So, yeah, we got about 4 minutes left, my lovely. Excellent. Is there anything you'd like to talk to? Don't get locked up for anything I've said on the other side No. You haven't said anything. Or eliminate it.  

[00:54:58] Unknown:

But, yeah, it's been great, and it's been lovely to speak to you again. And,   thank you very much for having me,   on your show. And I just hope that I resonate with our locals here.   I just hope that they're of a similar mind to me, that there's they know the problems. There's no good telling them what the problems are. I've had enough of being told what the problems are. Everybody knows what they are. What we want to know is how to put the damn things right and get rid of the problem. And I love the fact actually that you you're really in for the younger people because  

[00:55:29] Unknown:

if you was to have asked me, like, an hour ago,   what what would you like to change, Shelley? What needs changing? I would have said NHS dentists   and immigration. Part of it. Yeah. We've got to get them back on track. I haven't thought because I'm selfish. They're my needs, but I haven't thought of the younger generation.  

[00:55:47] Unknown:

To them Well it's not as important, is it? Of course, it's not. It's not well, it is important, but it's just as important as Hannah. Not as important, but they do need it. And and, I mean,   fluoridation of the water, what a ridiculous thing to do. We don't need it if we've got proper dentistry backing us up.   Put the dentistry in and stop the problem. Prevention's better than cure. Get through get everything back on track. And when I say industry, I'm talking about dentistry, NHS.   I've worked in the NHS, and I know what goes on. So I do have an insight in what needs doing, but it's all in a mess. The entire system, the entire country is in a hell of a mess. And I believe it's the same problem. I was listening to an interview the other day from a dentist. It's the same with the contractors.  

[00:56:29] Unknown:

The reason why they're going private   is because of all of the contractors and stuff.  

[00:56:34] Unknown:

Exactly. Private everything's privatized. Our local surgeries, everything is privatized   because private people get shares out of it. It gets shareholding.   Why do they deserve that sort of level of of restitution for doing very little other than putting money that they've all got on gains or other other investment?   Why do they enjoy   the benefits of that?   We need to have a decent quality of life first. Profits should come second. I'm not decrying profits. They will come. And if you put the put life right first, the profits will still be there   because everything will be working properly.  



[00:57:12] Unknown:

I love it. I love it. You've really got me thinking tonight. And,   because like I said, I would have not pushed housing   in the forefront of, like, a manifesto.   But it's young people, and we really need to reach them. So,   good work, Dave, lady. Very good work. Thank you very much.   So were you, what more have you got? I mean, you're out doing leaflets. You're a busy bee, aren't you?  

[00:57:36] Unknown:

I am. I've got a very good team out doing leaflets, but I do like to show my face. There was a couple of meetings I've been to that show my face. I don't just like handing out leaflets without being there, but we've got such a massive area. We got the Isles of Scilly. We got Lizard Peninsula. Oh, I didn't realize the Isles of Scilly was part of Oh, of course it is. It's a very important part. I mean, it's   a very big contribution to to this constituency. And then you've got the Lizard Peninsula. Oh my gosh. It's the whole peninsula up to the edge of Haile and up to the edge of Falmouth. So are you going line across. Are you going over to the Isles of Scilly then to do campaigning?   Funding is a bit of a problem with that. I have got a GoFundMe page, and if I do get a few bits and pieces in there, yes, I do intend to go over there. I really would love to go over there and talk to people over there, because I'm pretty sure that their problems are similar to ours. But being an island, it might they might even have a little bit more of a problem in certain areas, and I'd like to hear what they are. Yeah. Yeah. Good plan. Alright, my friend. Well, with that, we better come to a close.  



[00:58:34] Unknown:

Okay. Well, thank you ever so much. You've loved and spoken to them. Lovely to talk to you as always. What's your website, Dave, so people people can have a little look at your manifesto and stuff?  

[00:58:43] Unknown:

I've got I've got a Facebook page, which is,   vote Dave Laitie.   That's got a little bit on it. I haven't got time to do too much. I'd rather go and see people. And I've got davelaitie.org   is the website where a few things on it. Right. And that was built in a hurry in a few days ago. Well, it didn't have long to do. But no. But give forgive me if it's a bit rudimentary,   but what the idea was to get to the people first, not to be flash. I don't I'm not into being flash. I'm into being,   practical and get something out there that they can see, and,  

[00:59:16] Unknown:

and, that's what we've done. Brilliant stuff. Well, good luck, my friend. And, I'm Lovely. Supporting you, and keep checking all these messages and seeing what you're up to.   Thank you very much. You again. Take care, my lovely. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.   Wow. That was fascinating.   So I don't think I've got enough time to play the outro music, which,   never mind.   I am up next with Malefika Scott for the connection.   We shall have a wee little chat about what's going on in Cornwall, and,   no doubt Maleficos has got a great bit of Cornish history for us all to listen to. So stay tuned, and,   we'll be with you in a minute or 2. Have an awesome week.