Truro and Falmouth MP Cherilyn Mackrory has welcomed the Spring Budget which she says provides billions of pounds to support businesses and families through the pandemic, however Labour say Cornwall appears to have been forgotten.

Mrs Mackrory said the Government's plan focussed on supporting people and businesses through this moment of crisis – well beyond the end of the roadmap – to ensure they have the security and stability they need.

“Today’s budget provides businesses and families in Truro and Falmouth with the support and reassurance they need to get through the pandemic," she said.

“With £407 billion of support for families, jobs and businesses, it is right that the Chancellor is honest with the British people about our public finances.

“At the same time, I was elected on a commitment to level up communities like ours, and I am thrilled that this Conservative Government is now making good on that promise – by building our future economy and investing in every corner of the United Kingdom.

“I am also pleased that despite the pandemic, this Government has made the time and found the funds in the past year to continue to invest in Truro and Falmouth, with funding for a new school, new hospital and the continued dualling of the A30, and will continue to do all I can to make sure we get a fair share of national funding as your local MP."

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However reacting to the Chancellor’s Budget, Falmouth councillor and Labour deputy group leader on Cornwall Council, Jayne Kirkham said: “It feels a bit like the Chancellor has forgotten about Cornwall in this Budget. Extending the furlough scheme – as Labour has called for previously – will help over tens of thousands of people in Cornwall, and the cut to VAT for the hospitality and tourism industries is welcome, scratch beneath that and there’s a number of issues that go unaddressed.

“Firstly, there was no mention of social care or schools or crime at all; while the very key workers who have worked heroically to get us through this crisis are seeing their pay frozen again. The people of Cornwall have got to pay huge hikes to their Council Tax because the Government are refusing to keep their promise to reform Social Care funding or cover the cost of the pandemic.

“Only two places in the entire South West received anything from the Towns Fund, neither of those were in Cornwall. There still wasn’t any mention of the Shared Prosperity Fund – or how the money Cornwall receives from the EU Structural Fund would be replaced.

“Labour has been calling for a National Investment Bank for a long time, so it was good to hear the Chancellor take heed of that – I just hope that the government recognises the immense potential of green jobs and growth in Cornwall and will support us appropriately. We need an Investment Bank in Cornwall, not in Leeds. We need local control over our investment.