‘Government will match EU funds for Cornwall’

BORIS JOHNSON has said that the Government will fully “replicate” the European Union funding lost by Cornwall as a result of Brexit.

It comes after the Government was accused of breaking promises made during the EU referendum in 2016 that, in the event of Brexit, Cornwall would not lose out on funding it received from the EU.

The Government had also previously promised that Cornwall would benefit from the Shared Prosperity Fund, with Mr Johnson telling the BBC that he would ensure “Cornwall would be carved a discreet fund from the Shared Prosperity Fund”.

Ahead of his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday, the Prime Minister was asked by the BBC’s Martyn Oates whether he stood by his promises to Cornwall. He replied that Cornwall would still get the promised funding, adding that he thought Cornwall – which Mr Johnson chose to host last June’s G7 Summit – has a “fantastic future.

Asked whether Cornwall would still get the previously promised funding, Mr Johnson said: “Yes, and we’re determined to... yes, so the shared prosperity fund will replicate the money going to Cornwall.

“We’ve got the town deals we’ve just done across Cornwall, we’re investing massively in Cornwall.

Cornwall has got a fantastic future and we want to make sure we support it in the way it was previously being supported.”

The comments come after an Independent councillor on Cornwall Council demanded that the Conservative leadership of the authority confronted the Government over what he claimed were broken promises. Cllr Tim Dwelly claimed that Cornwall would only receive £3 million from the various funding promised by the Government – in comparison to the £100 million Cornwall would have got from the EU.

Cllr Dwelly said: “We are in a year when we would have had £100 million coming to Cornwall if we had stayed in the EU. There is a pilot for the Shared Prosperity Fund, which is called the Community Renewal Fund, and we have been told to bid for up to £3 million – and we don’t even know if that will come.

“This council chose not to apply for any Levelling Up funding and has been banging on about how a combination of funds would replace the EU money – but that is not the replacement funding, that is money which is available to all parts of the UK. Cornwall was given EU funding because of its unique status – there has been no replacement funding provided by the Government.

“At best Cornwall will get £3 million this year – anyone can work out that is not £100 million. It isn’t just levelling down, it is vicious levelling down.”