Former North Cornwall MP, Lord (Paul) Tyler is to use his valedictory speech in Parliament to say this current government ‘betrays the legacy’ of Margaret Thatcher.

The veteran Cornish politician was first elected to public office in 1964, as a county councillor in Devon. He went on to serve as Liberal MP for Bodmin in 1974, and later as MP for North Cornwall from 1992-2005.

He was the Liberal Democrat agriculture spokesperson during the 1990s BSE crisis, speaking up for the farming community in Cornwall calling for a “non-partisan national approach to this continuing emergency”.

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But in Parliament today he will say that while he has always pursued a cross-party approach at Westminster, “constructive cooperation with Conservatives – now in the Johnson mould – has become impossible because the once great Conservative and Unionist Party has become a narrow, dogmatic cult.”

Though he reproaches the Conservative Party, he will pay tribute to the people of Cornwall, saying: “I owe my time in this Parliament to the people of my beloved ancestral county of Cornwall.

“They are feeling the distinctly unconservative, scorched Earth nature of this government particularly keenly. Both the Prime Minister and Mr Gove promised that the level of EU investment there would be fully replicated in the new, post-Brexit national support programme.

“Yet EU Structural Fund support this year would have amounted to £100 million, whereas Cornwall Council now warns the actual UK support firmly promised is only £3 million. So much for ‘levelling up’”.

He adds that despite assurances from Ministers that all existing protection for Cornish speciality food products would be fully retained in future trade deals, these promises have been broken. Saying that the government has now conceded that there will be no protection for Cornish pasties, clotted cream and other local products.

Commenting ahead of his final speech in Parliament, Lord Tyler said: “It is sad to have to use this occasion, after 30 years in Parliament, to point out how careless Conservative Ministers are with the truth. But this has to be said, no matter how uncomfortable it is for them to hear.

“It was the privilege of my life to be elected to the Commons to speak up for constituents in Cornwall, and I have tried to give the Duchy a voice in the Lords for the last 16 years too.

“Despite the bad reputation of politics, most people I have encountered in all parties – before the Johnson Junta came along – were motivated by a desire to speak up for constituents and causes who would otherwise not be heard. That is a noble cause in itself, and I know many of my successors in all parties will keep it up.”