CORNWALL’S Liberal Democrat MPs have criticised Chancellor Rachel Reeves for “leaving Cornwall out in the cold” after she failed to mention the Duchy during the spending review, concentrating on the Midlands and the North instead.

The CEO of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce also weighed in, saying he’ll pay her train fare down here so she can see what Cornwall needs and how it can help the rest of the country with the right funding.

However, Labour MPs in Cornwall have defended the Chancellor of the Exchequer, stressing she sets departmental budgets, but doesn’t tell them how to spend those budgets. They say it is now up to them, as local MPs, to lobby for specific funding in Cornwall’s favour.

The Chancellor announced an extra £29-billion a year will be spent on the NHS, an annual rise of three per cent on current levels. Of particular interest to Cornwall and our housing crisis, will be the promise of £39-billion, over the next ten years, towards affordable and social housing.

Ms Reeves also announced £15-billion for new rail, tram and bus networks across the West Midlands and the North. She’s also given the green light to a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester. There was no mention of specific public transport funding for Cornwall, which many residents believe needs improving, particularly in badly served rural areas.

North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire said: “After years of under-investment in our Duchy and being ignored by the previous government, it seems that we’re also being completely abandoned by this Labour Government. Pork barrel politics was on full display as Labour strongholds like Blackpool were given repeated mentions – and Cornwall was left out altogether.”

MP for St Ives and the Isles of Scilly, Andrew George, added: “The chancellor has become so pre-occupied with defending so-called ‘Red Wall’ seats in the North, she’s completely abandoned Cornwall and South West England.”

John Brown, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, was also critical. He said: “Rachel, what will it take for you to actually say ‘Cornwall’? I’ll pay your train fare and throw in a bus pass if you come and see how this county can feed the nation, power its net-zero future, supply critical minerals and strengthen UK defence.

“The Spending Review shows intent, especially on housing, schools and skills, but we need clarity on Cornwall’s share so we can be at the forefront of British innovation and a more secure and regenerative economy. The most urgent thing? Sort the transport links so we can turn our natural assets into national assets rather than feeling cut off from the rest of the country.”

He suggested a “shopping list” of Cornwall’s needs:

Transport

  • A fair share of the new £2.3 billion Local Transport Grant, including the promised four-fold uplift for rural areas
  • Resilience and main-line rail upgrades in the £24-billion roads and rail maintenance programme
  • Confirmation that the bus-fare cap and £750 million a year for buses will reach Cornish routes

Skills and housing

  • Access to the £625 million construction-skills fund so local trades and apprentices can deliver the £39-billion Affordable Homes ProgrammeFarming and land management
  • Access for all farmers to the Environmental Land Management Funding as it rises to £2-billion a year by 2028-29
  • A digital overhaul of the Rural Payments Agency that speeds up, not slows down, payments

Climate resilience

  • Fast-tracked schemes for towns from the £4.2-billion flood-defence budget
  • Clean-energy supply chains
  • Support from the £300-million Great British Energy offshore-wind fund for floating-wind manufacturing at Falmouth
  • Equivalent backing for geothermal, solar and tidal projects that match Cornwall’s natural strengths

Growth finance and digital opportunities

  • Clear access to the £25.6-billion British Business Bank, the £1.9 billion cross-government digital programme and the £400-million Defence Innovation pot
  • Transitional help for SMEs as HMRC moves to digital-first systems

Warm homes

  • Creation of a retrofit cluster in Cornwall aligned to the £13.2-billion Warm Homes Plan, plus EV-charging hubs funded by national EV programmes

Levelling up

  • Transparent criteria for Cornwall’s equivalent of the Growth Mission Fund and the list of 350 communities set for regeneration, so Cornish towns can bid with confidence.

Mr Brown added: “Cornwall can deliver growth, food security and clean energy for the whole UK once the investment flows match the ambition. We look forward to working with ministers to make that happen.”

The MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle Perran Moon retaliated. “I think there’s a little bit of misunderstanding about the process. The Chancellor sets departmental budgets. She doesn’t tell the departments how to spend those budgets. That’s up to those departments.

“Now budgets are set, over coming weeks Cornish Labour MPs will be lobbying like crazy those departments that are relevant to Cornish interests, to make sure that Cornwall gets what Cornwall needs. That’s not the chancellor’s job.

“So departments such as Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Education and Health and Social Care can expect to be seeing a lot of the Cornish Labour MPs in coming weeks and months. What the chancellor has done, however, is sent a clear signal of this Government’s key priorities.”

Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, said that there would be big opportunities for Cornwall when it comes to social and affordable housing, particularly for the stalled Pydar and Langarth developments in and around Truro.

She added that Cornwall has access to £3-million of devolved skills funding for construction skills and she believes that an announced bus fare cap will help passengers in Cornwall, with local transport funding filtering down from the Department for Transport.

Ms Kirkham said that Environmental Land Management funding going up by 150 per cent bodes well for Sustainable Farming Incentive funding and for farming in general. “GB Energy is a real opportunity for Falmouth port. We are already talking to GB Energy and, of course, the National Wealth Fund (NWF) has already invested in South Crofty and lithium.

“The things John Brown has picked out will be helpful for us, plus the big investments in the NHS and defence which will help Cornwall a great deal.”