LAST week, I penned a criticism of Cornwall Council's failure to understand whether it was entitled to a certain kind of funding. 

Less than a week later, those same intellectual heavyweights at New County Hall have, once again, served me my next column on a plate.

This week, we've learned that a decision was made to withhold all but 17 of 1,700 pages of emails sent to or from Cornwall Council's chief executive, Kate Kennally, and its Conservative leader, Cllr Linda Taylor, regarding the referendum on a mayor for Cornwall. 

After a Freedom of Information (FoI) request was made by an independent councillor asking for any email containing the word "referendum", the council's department handling FoI requests "concluded that the public interest test favours non-disclosure because although disclosure of this information would increase access to information held by the authority and allow scrutiny of the public authority’s decisions it would also prejudice the free and frank exchange of advice and views for the purpose of deliberation."

READ MORE: Council 'lack of transparency' 'stinks' as 97 per cent of mayor bid emails withheld

It is the opinion of this Skipper, dear reader, that Cornwall Council's response to this request is categorically Trumpian and shows a blatant disregard for the concept of transparency and the idea that those in power should be held to account. 

It seems to me that the Conservatives at both a local and national level have taken too much notice of the way in which politicians such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson conduct themselves.

The attitudes billowing out of both New County Hall and Westminster like sewage onto Cornish beaches reek of "Who cares what the people think, we'll do as we please and no one can tell us otherwise."

Do yourself a favour, Cornwall, and show them exactly who they are accountable to.