The leader of Cornwall Council has hit out at the Prime Minister on a number of issues from coronavirus testing to funding for the Cornish language.

Julian German made a number of comments directed towards Boris Johnson in his statement to a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The independent councillor highlighted that Mr Johnson had recently commented that local councils had been at the forefront of the work against the Coronavirus pandemic.

Cllr German paid tribute to all council staff who had worked to keep people in Cornwall safe and praised school teachers and staff who helped ensure that schools had been able to open to all children this month.

He then highlighted that the PM had warned that “we are in for bumpy run” over the next six months and said that it was likely to be more bumpy for Cornwall.

Cllr German said that Cornwall had been “hardest hit economically” by Covid-19 and called on the Government again to allow it to use unspent money from the Government’s business grant support to help businesses which had, as yet, been unable to access financial support.

He said: “No-one understands the business needs in Cornwall better than those of us who live and work here. We need to help these businesses.”

Cllr German then turned his attention to problems with accessing Covid-19 tests in Cornwall with many people reporting that they had been unable to get a test when they had symptoms of the virus.

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He said: “The bumpy road is not helped by the lack of access to testing.”

Cllr German called on people to contact the council to share their experiences of getting a test so that they could share this with the Government.

He added: “Cornwall Council wants Government to make urgent changes to the testing programme to make it easier for any residents to access a test.”

The council leader also commented on the Government’s plans to shake up the planning system which have been criticised by councillors all over the country.

Cllr German said that the moves would reduce the number of affordable homes which would be delivered which would impact on people in Cornwall.

He also said there were concerns about plans to revise housebuilding targets which would mean that more homes would have to be built in Cornwall.

Cllr German said: “Cornwall Council is calling on the Government to immediately review the new housing number formula and abandon proposals to reduce the number of affordable houses to be delivered.”

Finally the council leader criticised the Government for indicating that it would not be providing any funding towards supporting and promoting the Cornish language despite being criticised by the Council of Europe last week for failing to support the Cornish.

Cllr German said that the PM “must have forgotten his Cornish roots” – a reference to Mr Johnson’s father being born in Penzance – after a letter was sent to the council announcing that no funding would be made available.

The council leader said he would be calling on Cornwall’s MPs and the Government to help promote and support the Cornish language.