Dining across the divide: ‘This man will find common ground with you. I cannot overplay how much I enjoyed his company’
Mark, 54, Hayle, Cornwall
Occupation Mental health support worker
Voting record Always used to vote Labour, but now votes Green
Amuse bouche Mark sings in a contemporary men’s choir – anything from Cornish sea shanties to Björk
Steve, 53, Saltash, Cornwall
Occupation Royal Navy weapons engineer
Voting record Always Conservative
Amuse bouche Competes in ultra-marathons and recently ran 35 miles across Dartmoor. “It’s very hilly and you get about four seasons in one go”
For starters
Mark We both had the same – the salt and pepper squid, and then the seafood platter as a main course.
Steve And then I had a couple of glasses of wine. He had a beer.
Mark We got on very well, actually.
Steve Probably one of the best guys I’ve met in a long, long time. He was tremendous.
The big beef
Mark I think we have an obligation to help people from war-torn countries and disaster areas. His view was that we shouldn’t let anybody in at all. He asked me why single young men come over here. I said: “If you were in Syria or Afghanistan, if you’ve got a family, you’re not going to send your daughter or your wife. You’re going to send the person who’s got the best chance of getting here and making a new life.”
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Steve My stance is very much that 161,000 people waiting to be processed is too many – we can’t look after the refugees we’ve got at the moment. There’s not enough houses, we’re going through an energy crisis, a cost-of-living crisis. Rishi Sunak is saying he’s going to clear that backlog somehow, but I don’t know how.
Mark Nobody makes that journey lightly – it will cost them everything they’ve got, there’s a high risk of death. We’ve got to help. We were poles apart on this – I don’t think I got through to him at all.
Steve The only way you can stop people coming across is by nipping it in the bud. I’m in the Navy – we’ve got boats that patrol the Channel. So the border force is dragging us into that conflict, but they’re not going into the Gulf.
Sharing plate
Mark We talked a lot about Cornish poverty. Cornwall, as everyone knows, is an amazing place to come on holiday. And yet, five miles down the road from one of its most beautiful beaches is one of the poorest areas of the country.
Steve We both love it here – he lives in Hayle, and I’m from about 10 miles from there. There is a massive problem with second homes: specifically, people from the south-east owning them. Local people in Cornwall haven’t got a chance. In winter, you can walk down the beach and you won’t see a soul.
Mark There is a forgotten community in Cornwall. When the mines shut down and work was lost, people were chucked on to estates in the middle of nowhere and basically left there.
Steve The councils are trying to get housing back for local people with a special tax on second homes, and we both agreed with that.
For afters
Mark His view was that nurses should go on strike, but he didn’t think anybody else should. I don’t think a teacher’s salary is high for what they do. He said: “Yeah, but they get a load of holiday.” From what I can see at the moment, being a teacher is a bit of a thankless task. They get lots of abuse from the kids now, and even more abuse from the parents.
Steve I’ve just seen teachers on strike today. Looking at what they get paid, it’s not the greatest money, to be fair. The more you look into it, the more you think: is it that good? Young people are even struggling to pay their rent, let alone feed themselves. So I can change my mind a little bit.
Takeaways
Mark We were brought up very similarly and it was almost like two school friends who hadn’t seen each other for 30 years. We chatted and chatted. He brought me a little gift as well – a medallion from the ship that he used to sail on. That was a really lovely thing to do.
Steve This man, he will find common ground with you. I cannot overplay how much I enjoyed his conversation and his company. Tremendous guy, self-made. He retired at 50, because he made that much money. I was really, really impressed with him.
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake
Mark and Steve ate at the Blue Anchor Inn in Fraddon, Cornwall.
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