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This is where you can find my take on South West politics, high and low, from Portland to Penzance
08:17 UK time, Friday, 4 May 2012
Martyn added analysis to:
Labour has swept back to power in both of Devon's cities after yesterday's local elections.
Plymouth - as usual - was a straight fight with the Conservatives, while in Exeter Labour took seats from both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats.
19:30 UK time, Monday, 30 April 2012
We can't really avoid breaking the classic social taboo of talking about politics at midday on BBC One every Sunday.
But we rarely compound the faux pas by throwing religion into the mix as well.
18:36 UK time, Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond's visit to Devonport Naval Base gave me the opportunity to quiz him on a range of naval matters.
He was there to announce the £350 million contract for Babcock to refit the Vanguard Class submarine, HMS Vengeance.
11:10 UK time, Tuesday, 13 March 2012
The Labour peer and QC Baroness Mallalieu dropped in to join us on the Sunday Politics this week.
I'm pretty sure Ann Mallalieu is my only Sunday Politics guest so far who's also featured on Desert Island Discs (where she chose Twist and Shout as her first record).
17:40 UK time, Friday, 2 March 2012
Rural motorists on the British mainland hoping for a slice of the government's fuel rebate - launched this week on the Isles of Scilly and a group of Scottish Islands - probably shouldn't hold their breath.
This week's announcement is the latest update on the pledge to "investigate measures to help with fuel costs in remote rural areas, starting with pilot schemes" in the coalition's Programme for Government of May 2010.
13:09 UK time, Sunday, 19 February 2012
Tory council leaders have long been privately voicing their exasperation - and that's putting it politely - with Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles and his handy hints and tips as to how they should be doing their jobs.
This centres on what they would see as - and again I err on the side of politeness - his overly optimistic view of their ability to maintain essential public services in the face of dwindling finances.
12:35 UK time, Thursday, 19 January 2012
MPs have been promised a vote on whether to scrap the hunting ban before the end of this Parliament.
Countryfile viewers heard it from the lips of the Prime Minister himself on Sunday evening.
16:49 UK time, Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Senior figures in the renewable energy industry are calling for nearly 200 more onshore wind turbines in the South West.
To put that in context there are currently just over 100 - so that would mean a threefold increase.
10:35 UK time, Monday, 5 December 2011
It was clear from the outset that George Osborne's plans to look at introducing regional pay rates in the public sector could have serious implications for the South West.
The region's unusually high dependence on public sector employment - and the fact that the public sector provides many of its best paid jobs - is well known.
13:49 UK time, Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Decades after the vast majority of grammar schools disappeared into history they still exert a powerful pull on the heartstrings of some Conservative MPs.
The tripartite system of grammar schools, secondary moderns and technical schools - along with the controversial 11 Plus - was the brainchild of RA Butler, Conservative President of the Board of Education in Churchill's wartime coalition.
16:46 UK time, Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Tomorrow the Boundary Commission road show rolls into town - more precisely the City of Truro.
The Commission is staging a public hearing into the new constituency boundaries it is proposing following the government's decision to reduce the number of MPs at Westminster.
17:23 UK time, Thursday, 3 November 2011
Geothermal Engineering's receipt of £6m from the Regional Growth Fund this week was the second bit of good news for Cornwall's renewable energy community in less than a fortnight.
A few days earlier the government doubled the financial support available for English tidal and wave energy projects to match that offered in Scotland.
17:15 UK time, Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Underlining the party's differences with their Conservative coalition colleagues has been the leitmotif of this year's Liberal Democrat conference.
Curiously, though, the main foyer at Birmingham's International Convention Centre was draped not only with large yellow banners but a matching set in a fetching shade of blue.
14:16 UK time, Friday, 16 September 2011
Martyn added analysis to:
The government has made significant concessions on coastguard station closures and the reduction of cover - but it's standing its ground when it comes to the Emergency Towing Vessels.
The Transport Select Committee said cutting funding for ETVs would be "literally inviting disaster".
12:18 UK time, Thursday, 15 September 2011
The Boundary Commission has chosen to cross the Cornwall-Devon border in the shallow upper reaches of the Tamar.
Under the new law on constituency sizes, the Boundary Commission says Cornwall will inevitably have to share an MP with Devon in some form.
21:53 UK time, Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Martyn added analysis to:
The Boundary Commission has chosen to cross the Cornwall/Devon border in the shallow upper reaches of the Tamar.
Under the new law on constituency sizes, the Boundary Commission says Cornwall will inevitably have to share an MP with Devon in some way, shape or form.
10:41 UK time, Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Martyn added analysis to:
If training were to end at either Raleigh or Dartmouth there would obviously be an outcry in either place.
But it might not be the end of the matter in this game of military musical chairs - with 45 Commando looking for a new home, with a government that wants to bring all the Marines to the South West and a military base potentially going begging.
10:02 UK time, Thursday, 21 July 2011
Even without the phone hacking scandal this parliamentary session was due to end with a roar rather than a whimper as far as the South West was concerned.
The government had promised responses to two important consultations - on plans to modernise the coastguard service and whether to approve a badger cull - before MPs broke up for the summer.
16:47 UK time, Thursday, 30 June 2011
Martyn added analysis to:
This report is not talking about a tweak here or there, it is taking issue with pretty much everything the government suggested.
Overall it says that the plans could jeopardise safety and the members of the committee are not confident that the service can be as effective as it is now, let alone more so as the government claims.
12:04 UK time, Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Any hopes Cornwall Council or the solar power industry might have been entertaining of a reprieve in the government's review of the Feed-in Tariff have now been dashed.
The Feed-in Tariff (or FiT) is a government subsidy for solar power devised by the last Labour government and then inherited by the coalition.
Martyn has worked at the BBC for 10 years.
Born and went to school in Cornwall - working back in the South West for the last 13 years.
Read history at Oxford University.
Started his career in newspapers and worked as Business Editor.
Leads political coverage for BBC news in the South West and presents Sunday Politics.
Covering politics since the early years of the Blair government. Appointed political editor in 2008 and clocked up his first election and prime ministerial interview within a fortnight. Recently interviewed Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband in the same morning; he's now aiming for the hat trick of grilling all three party leaders before lunch.
Paul Barltrop
Political editor, West of England
Thoughts and analysis on politics in the West of England
Peter Henley
Political editor, South of England
Analysis and thoughts on politics in the south of England
Andrew Neil
Daily and Sunday Politics
People and policies that make Westminster tick
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