Claims that West Cornwall’s most recent MP “let down” children in the area have been strongly refuted by the man in question.

Derek Thomas, who has been MP for the last two years and is contesting the seat again for the Conservatives in this week's General Election, has responded to a scathing letter from a 16-year-old student from Mawgan, Ruari McDonald.

In it he claimed that Mr Thomas had not fought hard enough for education and instead “let the Government cut more and more out of learning and training.”

However, Mr Thomas questioned whether the letter could be a campaign trick from an opposing party, telling the Packet: “I'd be surprised if this is a genuine letter. It sounds like a clever campaign by my opposition.”

He went on to recap on how he had responded to other enquiries regarding school funding, saying how the majority of schools in the constituency were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted "due to the hard work and determination of teaching staff and their headteachers," although he accepted that education funding "has not kept up with increases in costs."

He said: "I have visited almost all the schools in west Cornwall and Scilly since being elected in 2015 and have been impressed by the work and enthusiasm of the children and staff. I have been concerned that they do not get enough support.

"In February I invited the Education Minister, Nick Gibb MP to west Cornwall to meet with teaching staff and headteachers and to hear first-hand how the pressures on finances would affect their schools. The minister explained the challenge of providing enough money against a backdrop of national debt and clearly understood the challenges our headteachers face (this was the third opportunity that I have created for teaching staff to make their views known directly to government education ministers).

"I have been working hard to make sure that this issue remains a priority for the Government, raising these concerns with the Education Minister, Justine Greening MP and asking the Chancellor in the chamber: 'What message can I take back to my schools who tell me they cannot maintain these standards if school funding does not keep up with increased costs?'"

Mr Thomas also claimed to have "argued for a fair funding formula for public services," but said "staunch resistance from urban MPs" meant underfunded schools in Cornwall "do not see the increases they expected" and he had called for more money.

“Please be assured that I take the education of our children very seriously and recognise the good work that teachers do across West Cornwall. I am in regular contact with our local schools in order to support them, and to be aware of the concerns they have,” he added.

The row comes at a time when Mullion School headteacher Wayne Randle has been among a number of headteachers lobbying the government over the amount of cuts in education funding.

In a letter to Mr Thomas, Mr Randle acknowledged the MP had “completed considerable ‘work behind the scenes’” but that schools in his constituency were having to make “far reaching cuts to services that are already stretched to breaking point.”