Truro and Falmouth Labour Party has written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging him to take action to help local people because Cornwall has lower wages and bigger water bills than the UK average. Charlotte MacKenzie said: “We welcome the fact that Gordon Brown has asked the Labour minister Phil Woolas to look into the impact of big water bills particularly on people with lower incomes. Water bills in Cornwall are bigger, partly because of the cost of keeping our exceptionally beautiful beaches and rivers clean. But as everyone knows, local wages and retirement incomes are lower. We want the Government to take action to provide more help for people in Cornwall, either on an incomes-related basis or by redistributing the costs of protecting the environment.”

Update December 2008: we welcome the independent review that has now been commissioned by the Labour Government and hope it leads to greater fairness and smaller bills for people in the South West.