One of Cornwall’s four Labour MPs has accused a fellow Cornish MP of “wild rants” which are “particularly tedious”.

Perran Moon, MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, pulled no punches when it came to criticising North Cornwall’s Liberal Democrat MP Ben Maguire, who himself had criticised the Labour government for excluding Cornwall from the latest round of millions of pounds of Pride in Place funding.

The government has announced that a further 40 communities are set to benefit from the scheme by up to £800-million. However, no towns in Cornwall were selected, following a similar “snub” last year.

Mr Maguire says the latest “snub” comes despite him and Cornwall’s five other MPs (four Labour and a fellow Lib Dem) meeting with ministers to press the case for Cornwall, highlighting the clear need for investment in towns facing significant economic challenges.

He said: “This is yet another deeply disappointing decision that sees Cornwall completely overlooked by this government and I am furious that ministers have ignored our collective, cross-party efforts.

“Towns like Bodmin clearly meet the criteria for this funding, with some neighbourhoods ranking among the most deprived in the entire country – yet Cornwall has not been allocated a single penny.

“At a time when other funding streams are coming to an end, this continued failure to invest in Cornwall risks leaving our communities further behind, and my constituents are appalled by this latest snubbing.

“I will now be escalating this disastrous decision with urgency. Cornwall just cannot be left behind.”

Mr Moon has come out fighting in response to Mr Maguire’s comments and has accused the Lib Dem MP of not bothering to show up for the majority of cross-party Cornish MP meetings in the last 12 months.

He told us: “I find Ben’s increasingly wild rants in the media particularly tedious. He claims the government has ‘ignored our collective, cross-party efforts’. The fact is that Ben hasn’t bothered to show up at the vast majority of our Cornish MP meetings over the last year.

“What the people of Cornwall want from us, where we already have track record of successes, such as the largest ever local government funding settlement, Part 3 language status and the Kernow Industrial Growth Fund, is when we work as a solid six for the good of Cornwall.

“Yes, it’s disappointing to not have anywhere in Cornwall with Pride In Place yet, but if Ben spent a little less time ranting to the media to score cheap political points and a little more time engaging cross-party for the good of Cornwall (instead of claiming he does, when he doesn’t) we may have a little more success.”

Cllr James Mustoe, one of the few Conservative councillors still sitting at Cornwall Council, commented: “I know our MPs who are part of the government are genuinely committed to doing their best for the constituencies that elected them in 2024.

“It must be incredibly frustrating to them then to be part of a government that has proven time and time again that it does not consider Cornwall to be a priority.

“The government must do better and, for my part, I will do all I can to work with representatives of any political party and none to make a strong, positive Cornwall-wide case for future inclusion for Cornwall in the Pride in Place fund.”

The criticism of the government comes after Cornwall didn’t previously receive any funding from the government’s £5-billion Pride in Place programme in 2025.

That decision also sparked anger. The chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, John Brown, said: “I’m angry. It’s deeply disappointing, we desperately needed it.

“It’s all well and good for us to get really decent support into our businesses that are beautifully aligned onto our industrial strategy, but we’ve got to make sure the communities feel the benefit as well.”