St Day: where did all the EU cash go?

Grease has solidified on the windows of Camborne's Wimpy bar. In the two months since it closed a glass panel above the door has shattered. I had sought it out at the urging of the local MP, Julia Goldsworthy, who had commended its late opening hours experiment as a tool in preventing misbehaviour by local youths.

A cheerful policeman confirmed that the experiment had died with the lease at the turn of the year. Aside from corralling teenagers in a junk food outlet, what makes this episode shocking is that Ms Goldsworthy proudly declares herself a local girl, yet was unaware of the demise of her showcase solution for the social problems troubling her constituents.

Ms Goldsworthy's constituency office is 200 yards away from the ex-Wimpy Bar and it is just 10 months since Ms Goldsworthy was elected to Westminster.

Money that could be used to relieve deprivation is going on ‘Mac’ jobs, finds damien mcelroy

Since Loic Rich highlighted the blight of lawless children in his idyllic Cornish village, St Day, The First Post has asked local leaders why the authorities have failed to respond effectively to the pleas of residents.

It is true Cornwall is the poorest part of England. It has suffered a particularly vicious combination of post-industrial distress and rural decline. But Cornwall is also the beneficiary of vast amounts of Brussels-directed regional funding, which is supposed to address and rectify issues of deprivation.

According to some estimates Cornwall received more than £1bn in aid between 2000 and 2006. The county is dominated by Lib Dem politicians and EU funds have given the party an unusual opportunity to put its ideas into practice.

Critics claim the Lib Dems have been so eager to create so-called 'Mac' jobs they have failed to offer

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