Dining across the divide: ‘We got on so well, my daughter asked if I’d kissed him’

Lance, 66, St Ives

Occupation Retired; previously a nurse, then a university lecturer

Voting record If his vote counted, he’d vote Labour. Being in a heavily Conservative area, he votes Lib Dem

Amuse bouche Plays in a country rock folk band called Re:Formation

Jon, 63, Penzance

Occupation Self-employed highway engineer

Voting record Since living in Cornwall, mainly tactically Lib Dem

Amuse bouche Jon survived falling in front of a tube train. He’d got off the tube, an elderly lady bumped into him and he fell on to the tracks, a couple of inches from the live rail, in front of a train. This was 33 years ago – he and his girlfriend, now wife, gave up their jobs and completely changed their lives

For starters

Jon I popped into a real ale bar beforehand, and I was trying to work out the dynamic between these two guys. When I met Lance, I realised he was one of them. I said, “I’ve just seen you in the real ale bar,” and he said, “I love real ale,” and I said, “I love real ale.”

Lance He was a quietly spoken, charming, articulate, intelligent chap.

Jon We agreed on the wine and we both ordered the same food. We like our fish, living down here.

Lance We both had the scallops, and then we went for the catch of the day, which was plaice. Both were top quality.

The big beef

Lance We kept coming back to second homes. My view is that people who can just about afford a second home are not really the problem. Some would call me a second homeowner. I met my partner, Anne, 23 years ago; she’d already bought a house 10 miles from my a flat. I think the modern phrase is living apart together. People might think, “Of course you’re going to defend people with second homes.” But the problem is structural: you can’t blame people for taking advantage of financial incentives.

Jon I don’t think that really washes. I said, “When you do decide to cohabit, what will you do then?” I think the only way we can really change anything is if people in our position, in our 60s, not uncomfortable, think about passing things on in the future. The numbers don’t lie. If you look at the figures for this part of the country, nobody who works here can afford to live here.

Lance Where it gets out of whack is when you’re talking about fractions of the 0.1% – the really affluent people and corporations, who are frankly taking the piss. Inequality, housing development, land banking, that’s where the problem is.

Jon Airbnbs have had a hugely damaging impact in Cornwall. There are tens of thousands of them, and for the last couple of years everything’s been booked up. I think they’re more of an issue than the second homes.

Sharing plate

Jon I was working at the council, and I think he was in the NHS, when they first introduced this word “sustainability”. Nobody had ever heard of it before. In my department, which was highways, it took us three months to work out what it meant. From there, we had to figure out whether a development was sustainable, and I fully embraced it.

Lance I came at it from my university experience, in 2007. That’s when it came into focus for me: that action is needed in the next decade or so, not in the next 100 years. Plymouth University was a pioneer in the sustainability agenda. When I was working in healthcare, I thought, “What’s this got to do with me?” I realised it’s got everything to do with all of us, and it’s got more and more urgent.

For afters

Jon I don’t like the fact that I have to walk through a cloud of smoke in the doorway of a pub, but I wouldn’t ban it in gardens. I was in Singapore last year, and there were very few places you could smoke. I couldn’t even vape – it was bloody ridiculous.

Lance I’m a healthcare professional; I know what the risks of smoking are. If I want to go into the pub garden and have a fag, that’s an absolute joy.

Takeaways

Lance I liked him a lot. We both had a Lagavulin 16-year-old malt whisky afterwards, and we would have gone on to a fantastic quirky craft ale bar, but he had to get the train back to Penzance.

Jon We got on so well, when I told my family about it, my daughter asked if I’d kissed him at the end. I said, “No, we shook hands.” But it was a bit like that. I’d love to meet up for a pint with him.
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake

Jon and Lance ate at Porthminster Kitchen in St Ives, Cornwall

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